This winter, the number of people living on the streets will reach 300,000 in Canada. A cold weather alert is issued once the temperature drops to -15 Celsius (translation to Fahrenheit – very below freezing). These freezing temperatures could be fatal for those who cannot get appropriate shelter or adequate winter supplies.

Hence the 15 Below Jacket was born. Design agency Taxi in collaboration with fashion designer Lida Baday created the wind, fire and rainproof coat. The coat is lined with 15 pockets that can be stuffed with newspapers to provide adjustable layers of insulation. When the jacket isn’t being worn, it can be folded into a pillow or a backpack. Taxi partnered with Salvation Army to get 3000 coats to shelters across Canada.

But, does the jacket really work? Well, just to make sure, Taxi’s Executive Creative Director, Steve Mykolyn nominated himself to make sure, spending eight hours in a freezer facility wearing the stuffed coat.

Check out the cool autographed 15 Below Jackets by artists such as Kid Rock, Kim Catrall and R.E.M. and find out how you can further the cause on 15belowproject.org