For members of the transgender community, the act of buying undergarments can be a complicated affair. As bodies transform, clothes—particularly those that are worn closest to the skin—become an important part of that transition, helping to shape and augment a changing form and, in doing so, helping the wearer align outward appearance with internal identity. Now, an upcoming line of gender-fluid underwear is poised to offer those going through the gender reassignment process a selection of undergarments designed specifically to merge the unique functions required by their transitioning bodily needs with the form and comfort of high-end, custom-made fashion.
At her Kansas City storefront, All Is Fair owner and artist Peregrine Honig works with fashion designers Laura and Miranda Treas, crafting binders, enhancers, and other transgender-specific clothing items. Honig, whose work with trans-fashion was inspired by a friend undergoing the gender reassignment process, told Today that when she looked into what was available for the transgender community, “it was all so medical, but more than that, it was poorly constructed, too. I started trying to see what else was out there for the trans community.”
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All Is Fair will sell a selection of items meant for those transitioning in either direction: male to female and vice versa. Rather than call her products “lingerie,” Honig told Today she prefers the term “middle wear,” a nod to the transitional time in the wearer’s life when the store’s line of body-conturing clothing would be worn.
All Is Fair arose, in part, out of a successful kickstarter campaign this past summer, and has gone on to partner with Kansas City’s KC Care Clinic, as well as a number of local artists and collaborators, Honig explained to Informality. What’s more, she told the blog:
Since acquiring the lease in June, I have used All Is Fair as a classroom for patterning workshops offered to the public taught by Miranda Treas and as a studio for a visiting artist collaborating on All Is Fair garments. I’m working on getting a 501c3 to eventually provide a micro residency, something Kansas City would benefit from.
I want All Is Fair to be a space people can rent for a lecture, used for a show of someone’s work that is having a conversation about gender identity. I want it to be a shop for people who can pick up a garment that makes them feel better going about their day.
All Is Fair joins a small number of other boutique retailers crafting gender-fluid undergarments, and expanding the fashion world to include those whose bodies are in transition. According to Springwise, All Is Fair’s first product, a binder set created out of Lycra, is slated to go into production in December of this year.
[via springwise, informality, the guardian, today]
