A quick rundown on becoming a Collectives Creator
You’ll be helping a sustainable brand (us!) use design and clothing to tell stories inspired by collectives.
What is a Collectives Creator?
Creators and initiatives we admire can join as Collective Creators, share the stories and designs they believe in, and earn a fair share of the profits through affiliate commissions.
Get the lay of the land before you join
The Collectives Creator Hub below has everything you need to get started: a clear explanation of our profit-sharing and affiliate model, how we want to build these relationships, and the next steps to partner with us.
How to join
If this feels like a fit, just email our Founder, Grant, at creators@wearecollectives.com to say you’d like to join, and we’ll take it from there.
Prefer your info to-go? Download the key highlights from the Hub as a PDF.
WELCOME IN!
We should probably introduce ourselves
We’re the three people behind We Are Collectives, a clothing brand that shares its profits with creators and collective projects.
In this video, meet the three of us behind We Are Collectives. We’ll show you what we make, why we’re building commerce differently, and what this whole “collectives” thing is about.
50% of profits to you
Every creator earns 50% of profit on every sale they drive with their affiliate links.
Zero outside investment
We're not beholden to shareholders or growth targets. The business grows with the people who build it.
Sustainable fabrics
GOTS-certified organic cotton where available, otherwise organic cotton and recycled polyester.
25% to city gardens
Every city can design sends a quarter of its profits to a community garden in that city.
THE FIRST COLLECTION
Every city is a garden
Not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you think of an American city. But American community gardens helped us see cities differently: as places we can make greener, wilder, and more abundant.
Lots of brilliant initiatives get people involved by handing them a shovel. But not everyone has the time (or the inclination) to start digging.
So we created a model that provides another way to participate: profits go back to the collectives and initiatives doing the work, while spotlighting the vital infrastructure they provide.
Watch Lizzy walk you through the designs and the thinking behind them.
Key video highlights
- 14 original designs across 16 product types: tees, hoodies, sweaters, hats, totes, socks, aprons and more
- Six of the designs are city can designs for Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and New York, each built around a plant native or important to that city
- Each city can sends 25% of profits to a named garden partner in that city
A QUICK FIT CHECK
Is this for you?
We know we're not everyone's cup of tea. Let's find out if we're yours.
GOOD FIT
- You, and your audience, like brands that have something to say beyond "buy this", and you want to make content that adds quality to the conversation
- You think a lot about the place you live in, what's good about it, what's broken, and what needs to be changed
- You want to work with people who treat content creation as a creative output, not just a marketing channel
- You want to be part of a commerce model that puts profit back into the people and places that need it
- You're drawn to brands that take ideas seriously without being self-serious about it
- You want to put your social platform behind something you actually believe in
PROBABLY NOT
- Your audience comes to you for high-volume hauls and fast fashion
- You'd rather a brand that approves your posts in advance (we're a trust fall kind of brand - we don't review or sign off on your creative)
- You're sceptical that people working together can build alternatives worth having (if this is you, hi, please follow us, we'd love to change your mind!)
If that sounds like a bit of you, we'd love to hear from you
Email our Founder, Grant, at creators@wearecollectives.com to say you’d like to join, and we’ll take it from there.
HALF THE PROFIT ON EVERY SALE
How you earn money
Profits are split 50/50 between us and you, then paid out automatically every month via Shopify Collabs.
At the end of the year, we share our remaining profits among the featured collectives. We're deliberately keeping We Are Collectives small, lean and independent (no outside investment) so we can have plenty to share.
Our City Can capsule in this collection also includes an extra 25% for the featured community garden in that city (taken from our 50% of the profits, not yours)
Watch Grant walk through the model with a worked example covering the profit split, payment timing, and how returns work.
Price breakdown: City Can tee
Tee sale price
~$35
Printful production cost
~$15
Gross profit
~$20
To partner org (25% of gross profit)
~$5
Our share (25% of gross profit)
~$5
Your share (50% of gross profit)
~$10
Key video highlights
- 50% of gross profit on every sale, paid via Shopify Collabs
- Profit split, not sales revenue, so your earnings rise with our margins
- Paid 30 days after each sale, automatically
- We don't accept returns because every item is made to order, only genuinely faulty items get refunded (which is very rare)
- City can designs send 25% to a community garden in that city, taken from our half not yours
WELL-RESEARCHED, ORGANIC AND MADE TO ORDER
Product and sustainability
We spent a lot of time digging into the stories of community gardening in America, from Indigenous land practices to the gardens shaping cities today. The result is a collection designed to spark curiosity about the ecology of where we live, and maybe even help us imagine living differently.
We also wanted to show that clothing can be accessible without asking too much of the planet. So we researched suppliers carefully to find reasonably priced GOTS-certified organic cotton, with some organic-recycled polyester in the mix.
Watch Lucia walk through how the designs come together, the materials we use, fit and sizing, and the print placement options.
Key video highlights
- 14 designs in the launch collection, each with a researched concept connecting to community gardening in America
- GOTS-certified organic cotton where Printful offers it, otherwise an 80/20 organic cotton and recycled polyester blend
- Unisex, relaxed fit across the whole range, with detailed sizing guides because we don't accept returns
- Print placement is customizable on most garments, so customers choose where the design sits
BUILDING A PARTNERSHIP
What working together looks like
We’ve chosen creators we think we can build respectful trust-based relationships with. Our aim is to give your curiosity and creative spark as much room as you’d like.
Each design comes with a storytelling starter pack of content ideas, visual assets, ready-to-use captions and, where relevant, our well-researched stories of community gardening in the U.S.
Use it all, use what’s useful, tell the story your own way, or simply promote the clothes.
Watch Grant walk through what we give you, how the partnership works, and what we hope it grows into
Key video highlights
- A full storytelling pack for every design you promote: messaging, sample captions, and all our image and video assets
- No exclusivity, no content approval, no post quotas, no performance thresholds
- Potential for long-term partnership with early access to new collections and real input into what we make next
BUILDING TOWARDS REGENERATION
Where we're heading
A look at the regenerative worldview behind the brand, including the idea that humans are a keystone species with the capacity to help life flourish. With great power...
We’ll explore how we can design systems, cities and relationships that create more life, not less, and what we eventually hope to build with the people who join us.
Watch Lizzy walk through what regeneration means and how the collective fits into it.
Key video highlights
- A full storytelling pack for every design you promote: messaging, sample captions, and all our image and video assets
- No exclusivity, no content approval, no post quotas, no performance thresholds
- Potential for long-term partnership with early access to new collections and real input into what we make next
FROM INVITE TO FIRST POST
Getting started
- 01
Email our Founder, Grant, at creators@wearecollectives.com that you would like to join.
- 02
We send you an invite to Shopify Collabs with the Creator Agreement (or just the Creator Agreement if you're already on Collabs).
- 03
Accept the invite (and sign up if you're new to Collabs).
- 04
We activate your affiliate codes and send a welcome email with two complimentary product codes.
- 05
Browse the storytelling starter packs, choose the two you like best, and use your codes to claim them for free.
- 06
Track your sales and get paid monthly, right through your Collabs dashboard.