With the Year of the Woman in full swing, marking the centenary of women being given the right to vote, one company who are using it to their full advantage are Everything’s Sweet Threads.

Based in Manchester, Gerry Sweet, 32, and her partner Alastair, 42, became inspired whilst attending the Manchester Women’s March last year and ever since have been designing a range of cool, vintage style feminist t-shirts.

But it’s their collaboration with the Pankhurst Centre and Manchester Women’s Aid that have made them even more special, with 10% of their t-shirt sales going to the charities. Here, VIVA talks to Gerry about the inspirations behind their business, juggling looking after daughter Cecily and working two jobs and her thoughts on feminism and The Year of the Woman…

Hi Gerry! Where did the initial idea come from for your business?

We both work in fashion and have talked about doing something together for years but never really had time to do do anything. When we went to the Women’s March we were really inspired and that felt like the start of something. I went home and looked for a t-shirt that was feminism led and couldn’t really find what I was looking for. We came up with the idea of doing a bootleg band tee and wanted a charity element to it. This was around the time people were starting to talk about the cuts being made to the refuge service and I, being from the North East, heard a really awful fact that Sunderland was going to be the first city without any refuges! We looked locally in Manchester and the Pankhurst Centre and obviously incorporating Manchester Women’s Aid jumped out on the heritage and charity side of it.

How did you set it up?

Alastair is a designer so he designed them and then we get them printed in Manchester so just spoke to a few local printers. It’s much nicer and easier to get them done on your doorstep, so we work closely with a printer over in Islington Mill- we can get the prints done quickly, react to sales quickly and don’t have to buy too much stock.

You have been going for about a year now, how has that been?

The idea came in the January and then we launched the website in June- so we have actually been trading for six-months. In the run up to Christmas we saw a huge spike and this year has been a big start because it’s a huge year for women. Doing a collaboration with the Pankhurst Centre has got the name out even more- people are really engaging with the ‘Deeds Not Words’ tee because of it being the centenary year.

Tell us about your collaboration with the Pankhurst Centre?

We just contacted them and said that we wanted to give 10% of each of our sales to them. The centenary year was the perfect time to have a collaboration with them and design a t-shirt with them and it’s proving to be a great thing! Now we are just working out the logistics and are going to be selling the t-shirts in the actual shop in the centre.

Why is the charity element so important to you?

Part of it is that it’s starting conversations about women’s issues, equal oppurtunities, gender issues and it feels right to give a little bit back. We’ve spoken at length with the Pankhurst’s and had general meetings and heard women’s stories and it makes us want to do more. Working in fashion, it is just so fickle and shallow, so our main drive after attending the Women’s March was to do something that made us feel good about ourselves. When a sale comes through it is doubly as exciting, it puts an extra shine on it!

Amazing! You do all this and have a full time job as well?

Alastair works freelance as a designer, but I work in buying over at Shopdirect at Very. We laugh because we do all this when we already have full time jobs as well and we’ve just had a baby. It is time consuming, but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t enjoy it.

Is it hard to work with a baby, how do you juggle that?

It is, but it is manageable because she goes to bed fairly early. She is an asset as well, because we sell baby t-shirts right up to adult sizes, so in terms on Instagram and shooting for the website she is the perfect model and spokes-baby!

It makes you appeal to a broader audience as well…

Yeah! We are trying to tap into that as well, the ‘mums of Instagram’- they are forced to be reckoned with.

"Deeds not words" – they shout.

Taking over 100 years later – female MPs and Peers gather in front of the original Representation of the People Act #r4today pic.twitter.com/VlpHGTt28r

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 6, 2018

Do you feel that it gives you more to do as a couple, with it being your work and hobby at the same time?

Yeah and also for the three of us because we attend a lot of things, like go to family events earing our t-shirts, which drives conversation, or we’ve had stalls at a few things. We are doing things we would do anyway and enjoying it, as well as getting something out of it.

What does the year of the woman mean to you?

It’s a huge year and it’s a great platform. It’s sad and happy at the same time because everyone is talking about women’s issues and it’s a start but you don’t want after this year for people to stop having these conversations. It’s just about getting the most out of this year, the Pankhurst’s are the same and it’s all about striking whilst the iron is hot.

Would you have said you were a feminist before you started the company?

Absolutely. My mum and dad are sixties kids and they’ve both brought me up, they are both very liberal. Bringing Cici up, Alastair and I both share the day to day tasks and it is massively important to us that is something instilled into her. We want her to have the same opportunities and the same thoughts in her head as if she’s been a son- she’s obviously part of our driving force. Alastair would have described himself as a feminist, but I don’t think he would have given much thought to gender issues until he had a daughter, now he is thinking about her future and that has been an anchor for us, well him definitely.

What has the feedback been like from your customers?

Great. One of the best things has been getting this feedback and getting people on Instagram share pictures of them or their kids. It’s clear that it’s getting the message out there and it’s brilliant that there is a lot of people doing similar things, in terms of feminist brands or female empowerment or mum-led brands.

What’s next for you?

We want to do some collaborations and are in talks with some really interesting women, who we an sit down with and talk to and ask them about their ideas on feminism, experiences and start creating t-shirts from that.

For more information on Gerry and Alastair, or where to purchase their t-shirts click here.