Against The Grain: For These Five Brands, Gender Neutral Garments Are Not a Curiosity, They Are the Point

*Article from Lexington Line’s Spring/Summer 2022 Issue, pages 12-14

Check out the full issue here

Gender-neutral garments are nothing new, but until recently, brands haven’t made them their sole focus. This has meant the rise of a unique era in fashion: retail, not just runway, can dive in creatively without having to think about abiding by strict gender norms. It is more than dressing like a man or a woman; it’s about dressing for you.

Fashion provides non-binary people the ability to express themselves to the world and feel like the clothing they wear fits who they are. It is deeper than the fabric on your body; it is about feeling seen, heard, and cared for. Here are five brands helping fashion grow freer.

The Phluid Project

“Gender euphoria”—that’s how Robert Garrett Smith characterizes launching The Phluid Project in 2018.

“There were certainly people who were overjoyed by the concept, and there are so many different stories of people coming to the city because they heard about it or read about it,” he said in a Zoom interview. “It was like a sense of exhilaration.”

Smith founded The Phluid Project as both a brand and a community whose mission is to advocate for self-expression and freedom in clothing. They also make sure to give a voice to those who reject gender normativity and simply wear whatever they want. The Phluid Project solely partners with brands that promote and recognize the non-binary and the LGBTQ+ community overall.

The brand sends strong messages on its clothing—phrases like “Protect black trans women,” “They power,” and “Gender is a social construct.” The Phluid Project has a foundation where they support those at risk in the LGBTQIA+ community and assist trans-led organizations and the homeless queer youth. The team supports groups and organizations all over the country, including Marsha P Johnson Institute, Ali Forney Center, Brave Space Alliance, and BTFA Collective.

FANG

FANG is one of the brands The Phluid Project partners with; the NYC-based brand has been under the spotlight in the fashion industry for the past year. FANG is a high-end menswear brand that is all about the modern man, which the designer Fang Guo sees as “the feeling of being masculine, feminine, and everything in between.” The brand is known for its sensual knitwear, which was featured in their first collection. FANG challenges the idea of masculinity and what it means to be masculine in life and through clothing. The brand reinvents men's clothing like basic tank tops with cutouts, a touch of pearls, open backs, and a simple bow for elegance. FANG’s collections offer overall comfort with fit and design but also with self-expression and freedom from restrictions.

Barragan

When Victor Barragan was asked what beauty means to him, he said, “We endorse gender and ethnic diversity. We endorse the idea of unity around the world, which is pretty important for us these days.” His high-end genderless clothing brand thrives on the blurred line and has carved out a refreshing niche in the fashion industry.

Barragan is a Latin fashion designer from Mexico City that focuses on gender identity and art within fashion. His collections are more about an overall performance than individual garments. He produces collections comprising reconstructed designs that look like they were thrown on at the last minute, but that are still effortlessly fashionable and appropriate for a night out.

Barragan is heavy on community and sex-positivity; he produces pieces without any gender normativity in mind. His Autumn/Winter collection in 2017 consisted of the models eschewing self-exposure and placing emphasis on specific objects they were being photographed with. Barragan’s models are not only displays for the clothing but are also essential components of a broader artistic vision. As Barragan says in a Metal Magazine interview, “regardless of their gender, all the models wore individual looks that represent their own personality within the performance.”

Urbody

Urbody is a brand whose focus truly lies on your body being the canvas. The brand was created by Mere Abrams, a non-binary social worker and gender researcher, and their best friend Anna Graham, who has experience in the fashion industry.

What makes Urbody so special is that they have a creator who understands the frustration of finding underwear that fits their body without the strict lines of masculine and feminine clothing. The brand’s underwear and bodywear is for everyone, but its concentration is on the confidence and comfort of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The bodywear is very precise, as it is fit tested by community members that represent everyone on the gender spectrum.

The Urbody team expresses in an interview for Shondaland how their brand makes up for what is lacking in the fashion industry. “We felt a need to create a collection of garments that presented options to folks across the gender spectrum, as well as create a call to action for the fashion industry to realize its role in trans lives and trans liberation.” Nowadays, we see more opportunities and discussions for the support of trans people, so it’s important for fashion to follow along. The team also mentioned the reactions they received from their clothing as their models are everyday people with their own stories.

“I’ve been in so many different fit sessions, but I’ve never experienced how emotional it could be for somebody to try on something and feel so affirmed in their gender and their identity. There was so much joy that it brought to them, knowing there was something that was made for them and made them feel comfortable.”

One DNA

One DNA is a small business that is gaining traction and becoming a familiar name. The brand is produced at ateliers in New York City, but has recently moved a store to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where one of the co-founders is from. One DNA is an independently managed, black, and queer-owned business. Co-founder Travis Weaver described One DNA to Out Magazine as “clothing without boundaries” and a brand that’s about “all genders, all ages, all shapes, all races.” The brand’s collections include basics like sweatshirts, sweatpants, knits, T-shirts, and tanks that are all labeled gender-neutral.

The current collection includes “Women Are Powerful” text on the basics. 10% of profits from the Women Are Powerful collection are donated to the Women’s Law Center along with other nonprofits that support women and girls. One DNA has made gender-neutral clothing that is comfortable and easy to include in a wardrobe.

“It's important to me to make everyone feel included,” Weaver explains. “We’re carefully designing our core collection to be unisex, but still look great. We focus on a casual fit that accommodates most body types, [and] you can style items in multiple ways. It’s very universal.”