Woman navigates mental health challenges with idea for neurodiversity-themed clothing line

Millie Haywood knows what it’s like to fight.

The 22-year-old has faced ongoing health challenges, both physical and mental. She was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 13 and spent years in the hospital. She still relies on a feeding tube.

“I loved running, it was my passion. It was my purpose in life,” Haywood told News themezone from her home in Chalford, southern England. “I felt like I had no purpose, because I couldn’t run anymore and I just had nothing to live for other than my family.”

That feeling of feeling out of place lasted for years.

“I was frustrated that I felt different and was constantly told that I wasn’t. People couldn’t understand me. I just didn’t know who I was anymore. I had no identity,” she told News themezone.

Trying to enter the workforce in her late teens discouraged her even more.

“I went to several interviews and they rejected me right away… I felt quite discriminated against because I have a feeding tube. It really destroyed my confidence because it made me feel, well, what’s wrong with me?” she remembered. “But at the same time, it lit this fire in me to create something I’m proud of.”

The turning point for Haywood came when he was diagnosed autism at the age of 21.

“It just changed my life, because I started to understand and accept myself and it was like I finally found my voice,” she said.

The clarity helped ignite a new sense of purpose for Haywood, drawing inspiration from the giant stuffed animals she used to squeeze in her darkest days.

“I told my mom, ‘I wish this was with a hoodie. I wish this feeling, that hug you get, could be with a hoodie, so you can go out and feel that comfort.’ I just told her, ‘I’m going to create that.’ I’m going to design that.”

From her home studio, Haywood launched Mentally Unstitched, an online embroidery business through which she offers a line of soft, sensory hoodies designed to feel like the “comforting hugs” she used to depend on.

“It feels like a hug in a hoodie,” Millie explained as she showed off her soft hoodies, each of which weighs two pounds. Designs feature oversized hoods that fit over headphones, weighted fabric for anxiety relief, and no itchy tags.

The collection celebrates neurodiversity, with hats and other products embroidered with slogans like “Slay-DHD” and “Rizz Em with the Tism.”

“I really hope that I can inspire people with my designs and with my story that, you know, different makes you stronger,” Haywood said.

Haywood hopes to eventually create a full clothing line for the neurodivergent community that is comfortable and stylish.

And the thread of empowerment that sews into each design is to establish your own pattern of recovery.

“Finding Mentally Unstitched has reignited that spark inside me,” Haywood told News themezone.