In a departure from previous products University of Wisconsin student Eneale Pickett designed, an upcoming product from his company, Insert Apparel, will feature both clothing and a self-care box.
Pickett said the new line, which is called “Take Care,” will focus on providing tools for consumers to practice self-care and self-love.
Picket said the box will include a shirt, chocolate, shea butter, endoca oils, a candle, a journal and a booklet of written affirmations.
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Similar to Pickett’s previous lines, the shirt included in the box will have a message on it. However, the shirts from the “Take Care” line will have their messages printed on backwards.
Pickett designed the shirts this way so only the individual can read the message on the shirt when they look at themselves in the mirror. Self-care, Pickett said, must be centered around one’s self — just as the message on the shirt is centered around the individual’s ability to read it.
To create the box, Pickett teamed up with two black-owned Madison businesses. Kynala Phillips and Austin Gladden, who run shea butter supply business Shea Bae, and Janetta Hill, who creates handmade body oils, have included their products in Pickett’s self-care box.
Pickett said the message behind his new line is just as important as any other line he’s created for Insert Apparel. Self-care is essential and one’s well-being must come first, he said.
“I’m trying to train people how to look at themselves and I’m trying to let people know that you shouldn’t just do self-care when everything is falling apart,” Pickett said. “You should do self-care as a daily thing — because self-care is your well-being, and your well-being should be your top priority.”
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Pickett said the practice of self-care is a radical act. When people are constantly told they’re not enough, it’s radical to say that they are enough — that their mere existence, as Pickett said, is resistance.
One of the main points of self-care, Pickett stressed, is the individuality of it. Everyone has their own method of self-care. He hopes the products included in the box will allow for a wide array of uses so that everyone is able to practice self-care in the way best suited for them.
“I want this to be for anybody who thinks self-care is unattainable, that self-care isn’t possible in their context,” Pickett said. “I just want them to get this box and open it up and fully indulge in it.”
Pickett said the line will be for sale on his Insert Apparel website on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) — a significant day for this particular line given its historical connections with acts of love. Pickett said he will be accepting pre-orders on Feb. 8.
