About Wee the People
Our Mission
Wee the People is a children’s clothing brand on a mission. We believe that children are naturally curious and compassionate, and it is often the youngest among us who have the clearest vision, the boldest ideas, and the strongest ideals that - if fostered - will one day bring about positive change. We’re here to support that. We design cool shirts with upbeat, progressive messages that resonate with kids, to spark questions about what it means to be good (little) citizens. We draw inspiration from the optimism of our kids and the simple things they want: fresh air, clean playgrounds, honest adults. Our shirts uplift positive messages, affirming basic rights to a healthy planet, a solid education, and an equitable society.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Wee the People started, truly, as a labor of love. Working in the fields of human rights and design, we are a bit obsessed with politics and messaging. We also love kids. A few years ago, we found ourselves having a lot of conversations with other parents about how to talk to children about complicated issues: climate change, racism, inequality. Some worried about overburdening their children; others wanted to make sure their kids knew as much as possible.
We found ourselves somewhere in between. The more we thought about it, the more we started to believe that it was the way we introduced these things to our kids that mattered the most. We started designing shirts with lightly political topics, but with bright, upbeat images that captured our kids’ imaginative spin on the world. We printed these as gifts for our kids, their friends, our nieces and nephews. The response was overwhelming. Kids loved the designs. Their parents and teachers loved the messages and the questions they sparked.
When we started to receive requests for more shirts, we happily complied. We found it fun and energizing to work on something so positive, and we found it easy to uplift the incredible work of children and teens: Greta Thunberg, Malala, Black Lives Matter youth, and the Parkland activists. Soon, we were printing larger orders and selling at fairs around our home in New York’s East Village. Before we knew it, Wee the People was born.