How This T-Shirt Collection Is Benefiting New York Restaurants and Food Banks

Delivery and takeout orders aren’t cutting it financially for many restaurants in New York City and around the nation right now. While many local restaurants grapple with how to make ends meet in a world where dining in is no longer normal, two local New Yorkers decided to stop spectating the pandemic’s toll on the hospitality industry and start a campaign that could turn a profit for restaurants outside of their kitchens. So, they created This T-Shirt.

Founded by Dylan Hattem, chief executive officer of DS Projects, and Cassandra Aaron, strategy lead, This T-Shirt has not only raised over $100,000 for restaurants and eateries nationwide but it also built a tight-knit community of food lovers and makers from Harlem to Hawaii.

The campaign officially started five weeks ago, when Hatten and Aaron began partnering with Manhattan and Brooklyn-based restaurants to create a simple product with a big payoff: a white cotton tee. Keeping in mind that employees were already under a lot of pressure, Hattem and Aaron structured the campaign to require the least additional efforts from each individual restaurant to make the most possible money for all. To do this, This T-Shirt pools all of the money and equally distributes the profits across all the partner restaurants, a method that encourages community instead of competition. “With all of the shared challenges that everyone is experiencing, virtual togetherness and support are so important,” Aaron explained.

Within two weeks, the duo found a safely operating factory to print the tees and secured enough partners to launch their first drop, which included brunch go-tos like Good Thanks, Ruby’s Cafe, and King’s Street Baking Company and local classics like Café Habana, Paper Daisy, and Osteria 57.

For art direction, Barron & Barron’s Josh Greenstein took the lead on the initiative’s call to action aesthetic. The campaign’s eye-catching and empathetic slogan, “Bought This T-Shirt And Stayed The F*** Home,” has even garnered the attention and following of foodie models like Meghan Roche and Karlie Kloss. “We wanted to do something that was unfiltered, engaging, something that was just relatable,” Hattem mused.