Gen Z no longer saw McDonald’s as a cool employer. Job applications were down in the primary age group of new fast-food restaurant employees. It was time to make the McDonald’s uniform something Gen Z could wear with pride. To do that, McDonald’s Finland teamed up with a local, up and coming fashion designer Jimi VAIN. He was chosen because of his cutting-edge style, eye for style and knack for craft – for this to work people had to really want the fashion. In collaboration with McDonald’s, the McDrip collection was born – upcycled fashion made out of used McDonald’s uniforms. Through fashion design it showed how the McDonald’s brand is present in this time right now in a way that is relevant to Gen Z. And did it through, essentially, the employees’ work uniforms.

Finland is not known for many things, but design is one of those. Finns themselves are very conscious about this perception around the world. When it comes to design, Finns value true craftsmanship, an ability to design “for the people”, and being able to bring something new to the table.

Unfortunately Finnish design greats of this ilk largely made their impact half a century ago. But a fresh design spark has been lighting up in recent years with fashion very much the burgeoning field. Young Finnish designers are increasingly earning newcomer plaudits on the international fashion circuit and picking up cool positions around the world. Sasu Kauppi, another designer to name one, worked on Kanye West’s fashion collection about 5 years ago. Therefore, fashion design felt like a field which would resonate with young Finns, and where McDonald’s could boost a young design label – VAIN in this case – on their way to get better recognised around the world – and in Finland, for that matter. In the aftermath of McDrip, designer Jimi Vain and his VAIN label has gotten recognition boosting him where it matters e.g. in Vogue magazine and the Pitti Uomo fashion event in Florence.

This all has also helped VAIN get noticed in his native Finland too – because there, if you get noticed abroad it’s news in this small nation. And when you do it for design? It really speaks to that pride about Finnish design.

How do you combine boosting employer image, creating something meaningful and making your brand culturally relevant for Gen Z?

To reach this crowd, we had to break into popular culture. In fashion young Finnish designers have recently gathered plaudits and that would tie in with a natural symbol of work at McDonald’s: the uniform. Local up and coming fashion designer Jimi VAIN was chosen as the collaborator – his style cutting-edge and he is Gen Z himself. Instead of collaborating with established talent, we wanted a fashion collaboration that would boost a local talent.

The new collection designed by VAIN was upcycled from used McDonald’s workwear. It was a true, fruitful partnership where Jimi Vain expressed his creativity to bring forth McDonald’s in a way that felt relevant to Gen Z. VAIN’s convincing craft and appealing style proved to be the right decision.

The McDrip fashion line includes 13 unique looks and 27 individual pieces. The designer Jimi VAIN integrated recognisable McDonald’s brand elements in it, and the brand was present throughout since 90% of the fabric was from used McDonald’s workwear – 10% was textile industry waste fabric.

The designs portrayed the McDonald’s brand character in a way that spoke to today’s Gen Z. And that was key, because the idea was to attract new employees. And so the fashion line was only available to McDonald’s employees – want the drop, get the job. Repurposing the workwear as fashion showed VAIN’s craft and the excitement on social media showed his designs resonated. The aesthetic extended to launch videos and posters – street fashion meets high fashion meets the McDonald’s brand aesthetic. On social media McDrip snowballed, and a look worn by rapper star Lil Uzi Vert was captured on Drake’s Instagram to

Results were evaluated by impact on employer image, job applications and brand metrics. Number of applications grew by 63%, breaking records for applications (McDonald’s Finland).

The designs transformed how consumers saw the McDonald’s uniform and through the fashion connection it could represent values the core target group – Gen Z – could subscribe to. The brand proved its worth and relevance to the youth it depends on as new workforce.

Earned media reach was 228 million – equal to 40 times the Finnish population.

Earned media value was 11MEUR – over 700 times the media spend.

Lil Uzi Vert wore McDrip during a Drake gig and Drake posted a pic on Instagram to his 136m followers – breaking into culture kind of attention.

And for their targeted 16-24-year-old demographic:

Employer image by 52%

Brand responsibility image by 69%

“It’s a brand I trust” perception by 65%

“Is a brand for someone like me” by 30%.