Adele Latu, a homeschooler and entrepreneur from Jamberoo on the South coast of NSW, has produced a line of Christian clothing she calls “Soul Submitted Designs.” She calls it “Australia’s Newsest Christian”, Australia’s freshest Christian clothing brand”, which is undoubtedly true. The Othercheek has had a look, and this graphic designer’s first impression is that it is decidedly un-naff.
Many readers will have questions: three spring to mind.
• Does it look any good?
• Isn’t all Christian wear cringy?
• Does it result in Gospel conversations?
For the First question, here are some pictures: decide for yourself.
On the Cringe issue, Latu told The Other Cheek: “Many Christians ARE cringy, and what they wear has nothing to do with it.” I can identify with that. ” “Simply be Christ out there, and if the shirt fits– wear it,” she adds. “If a ‘one second read’ by a passerbywho reads ‘jesus.heals’ or ‘CROSS SPEAKS LOVE’ sows a seed to them enquiring internally – ‘Does Jesus really heal?’ Or ‘What does the cross really represent?’ Then that’s worth the wear.”
Latu sent The Other Cheek some testimonies of Gospel interactions.
“I have been greatly blessed through wearing SSD clothing. It has tested AND grown my faith. Through regularly wearing my faith I’ve had to own what I believe on a level I didn’t have to before. I’ve seen huge growth in my confidence to share the good news of Jesus. This has led to random faith conversations, sharing the gospel with my barber and prayers with complete strangers!” Johannes Breuninger 2023. (via Facebook messenger) This year, Johannes is the Youth and Young Adults Pastor at Woonona Presbyterian Church.
“Wearing the Soul Submitted Designs gear gives me a tool to share about my faith. It’s a great conversation starter and it certainly has led to lots of conversations with people from all walks of life. It’s great.” Hayley Buckley, Google review.
“I purchased a shirt for my Christian friend who speaks to his clients about God in his Uber. He needed a subtle lead in. The shirt jesus.saves gives him a lead in.” Leonie Schlosser, Google review.
Soul Submitted sends ten percent of its revenue to help the people of Vanuatu. Last year, that involved working with Globalcare, part of the INC denomination, assisting a local church operation, and sending a 40-foot shipping container full of supplies for rebuilding villages after a number of cyclones hit the island nation. That project was called Together for Vanuatu.
Soul Submitted Designs is not a one-size-fits-all concept – not everyone is comfortable sharing their faith so boldly. Yet Adele says, “Be the best ambassador of Him in every place you step and let Him orchestrate the rest. I can attest to being stunned by His faithfulness and how He has blessed my obedience and boldness.”