Maxine Peake fronts clothing poverty campaign shot by Rankin

As exciting as this event is for many, it also highlights a stark divide in the ‘Rainy City.’ You see, for the roughly 7,400 homeless people living in Manchester, clothes aren’t a luxury; they are a necessity.

Just a 5-minute walk from Chanel’s fashion show are the offices of Manchester’s oldest homeless charity, Lifeshare. The team at the creative agency Meanwhile reached out to the non-profit with an idea for a campaign to bring the city’s homelessness statistics to life. It proposed making a different kind of collection dedicated to tackling clothing poverty.

Shot by world-renowned photographer Rankin, the project was launched today by actor Maxine Peake on the BBC Breakfast show.

One particularly striking black and white image from the campaign features empty coat hangers with the words ‘Sans Vetements,’ meaning ‘without clothes’ when translated to English. The accompanying message encourages people to donate what they can to Lifeshare. The wraparound can be seen in the Metro newspaper.

Other posters have been strategically placed near where the Chanel show is taking place.

“With the rich and famous in town for the Chanel fashion show, we spotted an opportunity to help those who can’t afford to buy clothes, let alone high fashion,” commented Rachel Miles, creative director at Meanwhile.

“Our mission was to raise awareness around the homelessness crisis in Manchester while we had the world’s attention. We’re creating a collection of clothes that doesn’t cost thousands but helps thousands.”