The funny and fashionable figure is teaming up with Uber and the New Zealand Red Cross for a special clothing-donation initiative.
Chris Parker’s mother imparted to him at an early age the necessity of wearing clean clothes.
“‘You’re not going out in those pants, are you? They are filthy’ — sage advice from my own mother,” says the 33-year-old comedian and TV personality. “Time and time again when she’s reminded me of that, she’s been right. This is going to sound so grotty but I’m hopeless at cleaning and taking care of my clothes. But if you treat them well and love and care for them, they will last so much longer.”
Chris, who provided plenty of escapism during the pandemic with his hilarious take on lockdowns, shared with Viva at the time everything from his felting obsession to his hilarious take on beauty, and also has a charitable heart.
In 2021, he won Celebrity Treasure Island, donating his prize money of $100,000 to Rainbow Youth, continuing to show his commitment to the advocacy of LGBTQIA+ youth.
This week he is teaming up on another unique initiative with Uber and the New Zealand Red Cross for a collaborative clothing drive event taking place on Saturday, October 21, aimed at helping New Zealanders donate quality clothing directly from their doorstep to Red Cross shops in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch for free.
It’s an initiative Chris says is vital to supporting local communities in advance of the summer season, including our most vulnerable.
“I think this is such a brilliant and fun way to get behind a charity that does so much great work supporting vulnerable families facing hardship,” he says. “We’ve seen even in our own country how quickly someone’s circumstance can change, which would then require them to seek support from an organisation like New Zealand Red Cross. So, to be able to get behind them and also declutter my wardrobe felt like a no-brainer.”
The time is right for New Zealanders to prepare their wardrobes for the summer months ahead, and if you’re thinking of culling your wardrobe, keep in mind that 97 per cent of New Zealanders own clothing they haven’t worn in the past 12 months (an average of $800 per person). The clothing drive is therefore an ideal opportunity to shed unwanted layers.
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Advertise with NZME.According to a report commissioned by Uber, Gen Z also made up nearly 60 per cent of op-shop customers in the last year, a figure that continues to showcase the driving power of a new generation to redefine the way we consume — particularly fashion. Chris agrees.
“Your adolescence is the time for the all too important discovery of personal style. That personal style is found through the racks and racks of clothes at an op-shop. For me and my friends when we were teenagers, the done thing was to buy a vintage suit jacket from an op-shop and rock that over a novelty tee and jeans — it was the height of metrosexuality. Gen Z is doing the same thing now, but instead of dressing themselves like discount David Beckhams, they are rocking those low-cut jeans, tacky designer sunglasses and skate shoes — and looking like all the kids that used to bully me in the early 2000s, which I find very triggering!”
The concept is simple — de-clutter good-quality unwanted clothing items and open the Uber app between 9am-4pm on October 21 and navigate to the Package option. Click ‘Send a package’, enter Red Cross Shop as the destination, and the delivery will be directed to your closest drop-off point. Customers will see a $0 amount payable when they book an Uber Package, with the drop-off location set to one of the Red Cross Clothing Drive drop-off locations.
“I reckon you give yourself the day before the clothing drive to sort through your wardrobe,” advises Chris, who is an op-shopping advocate and supporter of local fashion, often seen wearing designs from the likes of Zambesi and Checks. “I think it’s very classic of us to consider this a quick little 15-minute job. But as soon as you start bringing those clothes off the rack and onto the bed, it will just take over. Make yourself a little ‘girl dinner’ plate, put on some great music and get stuck in.”
The concept behind the clothing drive also appeals to our time-honoured tradition of trawling our beloved op-shops and supporting local charities. “Kiwis have always valued quality,” says Chris. “When it comes to our nation’s personal style identity, you can’t look past a decent Swannie, or a thick woollen jumper, and while you can always buy these things new, it’s just not the done thing — if anything, you’re going to be the laughing stock of your entire friend group if you turn up to Sunday morning brunch in a brand-new sweater that doesn’t look like it’s lived through a couple of lifetimes.”
Shane Chisholm, general manager of Enterprise and Engagement at New Zealand Red Cross, says the drive will help overcome the biggest barriers to supporting charities for many New Zealanders. “From the Far North to the deep south, New Zealand Red Cross provides a range of essential humanitarian services including supporting communities to respond to and recover from disasters and emergencies. We also support former refugees as they build new lives in Aotearoa New Zealand and deliver a number of vital community services, such as Meals on Wheels, which delivers over 700,000 meals each year. The Uber x New Zealand Red Cross Clothing Drive provides an opportunity for Kiwis to simply and easily donate high-quality clothing to Red Cross shops, which helps to fund our humanitarian work.”
As with any charitable donation, only good-quality items are needed, with Chris agreeing that the clothing drive is not an opportunity for people to throw away unusable items.
“This isn’t your opportunity to throw out all those clothes that are so ratty you haven’t even recategorised them as ‘sleep clothes’,” he says. “No, this is for clothes that you would be thrilled to find in your mid-op-shop trawl. Consider your donation as clothes you want to hand over to a sibling you love.”
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Advertise with NZME.For anyone looking to head out on a summer road trip, support our local charity op-shops while you’re at it, and keep in mind Chris’ sage advice on making the most of the experience.
“You’ve got to give yourself time,” he advises. “Op-shopping is an endurance sport. Those true op-shop finds, the ones that everyone gets jealous of, and that you gleefully delight in telling people that you got it ‘second hand’, come from diligently working your way through every hanger.”
