It doesn’t just have to be just latex gloves we celebrate. We can all show our support by wearing red mittens today, being that November 21st is Red Mitten Day, a celebration for a good cause from our northern neighbors.
The day’s origin, as explained here, comes from the Canadian Hudson Bay Company (H.B.C.) and their charity foundation. The H.B.C. retailer, founded in the 17th century, came to make white mittens sporting a red maple leaf, the Canadian national symbol, to celebrate the 2010 Olympic games held in Vancouver that year. Among athletes and fans, those mittens became one of the more popular pieces of apparel seen and purchased during the games.
Enjoying a substantial profit from their mitten sales that year (selling as they did initially for ten dollars), the H.B.C. donated a third of their mitten bounty to the Canadian Olympic Committee. Since then, there has existed National Red Mitten Day today, with the “Red Mitten” program set up to help fund Canadian athletes. For every pair of mittens sold (at $15 now), purchased at Hudson Bay, their website, thebay.com, or the pop-up stores the company has created, $3.90 (in Canadian money) goes to the athletic charity.
Surely, other days during the year have been designated to celebrate a specific item of clothing. For example, our April 6th National Pajama Day, later in the month, 4/25, is National Lingerie Day, and the globally celebrated January 21st International Sweatpants Day. But with the National Red Mitten Day being connected to a charity, it surely gets lots of press.
As it should.
Indeed, being as a latex couture designer, we are well aware of what an accessory can bring to a wardrobe. And although we are more comfortable in latex gloves when accessorizing something for our hands, surely in the cold months (and surely in Canada) a mitten, red or otherwise, could make an outing ever more comfortable.
Enjoy Red Mitten Day, everyone…and for our U.S. friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving.
