How Entrepreneurs Are Designing a Trans-Inclusive Future Through Clothing
Clothing Is an Important Way Individuals—Both Cisgender and Transgender Alike—Communicate Their Gender to Society. Clothing Can Hint at How People Might Like to Be Addressed and What Their Interests Are.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Need for Transgender-Inclusive Clothing
Clothing Can Be a Way for Some Trans People to Address Their Gender Dysphoria, Described by the American Psychiatric Association as a “Conflict” Between a Person’s Assigned Gender at Birth and the Gender with Which They Identify.
How Entrepreneurs Are Addressing the Need
Some Designers Are Producing Collections That Specifically Showcase Transgender Models.
Binders
Marli Washington, Founder and Ceo of Gc2B, First Sketched Prototypes of a Chest Binder in 2013 as a College Student. Initially, He Created the Cloth Device for Personal Use. But, over Time, He Realized There Was a Broader Need. Since 2014, Gc2B Has Sold About 400,000 Binders.
Dresses, Swimwear and More
Melissa Atkinson Was Studying Fashion Design at Kent State University, When She Created Her First Clothing Collection with Trans Women and Trans Feminine People in Mind.
Shoes
Henry Bae Was Working in the Fashion Industry as a Women’s Shoe Buyer When, Every Once in a While, a Larger Sized Pair of Heels Would Come into the Office. Bae Would Try Them on as a “Joke” in Front of His Women Coworkers and It Was Largely Treated as a Spectacle. in General, Bae Says That the Few Feminine Shoes Made in Larger Sizes Are Typically Intended for Performers, Particularly Drag Queens.
