How We Invent Our Gender-Affirming Designs

I got asked the other day how I come up with and create my clothing designs. And I realized, that what comes as second nature to me after all these years, is a mystery to you all! So I thought I’d take a moment to share the process of exactly how my team and I, create your clothing from start to finish. 

What inspires my clothing designs

What inspires me to make my designs comes directly from you, my community! Sometimes it’s a need that I see not being met in mainstream fashion- or a product that isn’t being made with queer and trans bodies in mind. I take advice from friends and community members on what they think is missing in the market- especially regarding gender-affirming items.

 I’m also always watching trendsetters (usually the transfemmes of color- let’s give credit where credit is due!) to see what’s on the cutting edge of trans fashion. You all inspire me so much, and often inspire the looks you see on next year’s runways! I tend to make more basics (especially these days), but the shapes and ideas still filter into what I’m working on.

And also, I have to be honest, I love designing things that I would love to wear, or see on people I love. Certain designs (like our all-gender jockstraps) are something that I’d always wanted to wear. But I’d never found one that would fit a body like mine, so I made it myself! It makes me so happy to create things that help people feel good in their bodies and that is the true goal.

The challenges of designing for Trans bodies

Sometimes mainstream fashion translates to trans bodies well, and sometimes it doesn’t. My cornerstone has always been that if I can’t make a product that will fit any gender presentation and across the size spectrum, I won’t sell it. This actually cut out a lot of cis-normative fashion!

Have you seen those flimsy bralettes that won't hold even ONE GG titty? That’s not what we’re going to do. I recently bought my partner some undies in a 2XL from a “normative” store, and they were the flimsiest things you’ve ever seen, and definitely NOT designed for a fat body. The way they did NOT hug the curves! They hung all floppy. 

You can tell when there’s been zero thought put into designing for trans people, fat people, disabled people… when they just take a “standard” size and scale it up. It doesn’t work like that- bigger bodies look and move differently, and have to be designed for specifically. 

The new cheeky and thong Brazilian undies were designed with all bodies in mind. It’s why I made them with two seamless layers of bamboo through the entire piece, not just a flimsy gusset. The seams are also hidden to stop sensory discomfort. I made sure they’re super soft, don’t cut in, and fit well from a XXS to a 5XL. All of those aspects are really important in considering creating a design.

Things that are important to consider about the design

When I’m designing, I go about it in a few different ways. Sometimes it’s based on a product I want to try for myself, or someone I know who’s in need of a piece that fills a particular need. Sometimes It’s based on a previous product that I liked and I want to tweak. 

I keep expanding the gaff range based on how things sell, customer feedback, and where I see gaps in the market, for gaffs specifically. I made our two newest high waist shapewear gaffs because I knew that a lot of transfemmes and other gaff-wearers wanted something that had a high waist that wouldn’t show under things like dresses and skirts, and held the tummy as well, kind of like a girdle. But it still had to be soft and flexible enough for comfy all-day wear. 

The two new high-rise gaffs- the thong and the cheeky have more of a medium-high rise (as compared to our first high-waist gaff, which has a high rise above the belly button) to fit more smoothly under your clothes. I worked on those two designs for over a year until I got them just right to be comfy and fit perfectly across the entire size range.

We're also trying to push the boundaries of fashion technology to better serve our trans and gender-diverse clients. For example, we knew years ago that we wanted to remove the gender binary in our undergarments,so we didn't have to label things according to "male" and "female." But it took years to figure out our gusset system so that we could be the first company in the world to remove our binary language. AInventing boundary-pushing fashion requires a lot ofwork and testing  

How the fabric and materials inspire the design

The materials also play a big part in designing new collections. I like to create these capsule collections from one-of-a-kind fabric that offers something interesting- a texture or pattern that we haven’t seen before. Playing with new and limited-run fabric is fun! I also choose fabrics that will fit well with our basic collections, so you can always mix and match. 

This also allows me to buy smaller quantities, often from local mills or local deadstock fabric (the extra fabric that’s already been made for a big company, sits unused, and is usually destined for landfills). It prevents us from buying new materials, keeping our environmental footprint as small as possible. 

How we fit test to make sure that our designs can be adapted to fit all bodies

The fit-testing process is an incredibly important step in bringing new designs from concept to reality. I won’t offer a product unless we know that it will work in all sizes (currently XXS-5XL, although we can always make custom sizes outside of that). How we know if it will work on as many bodies as possible is through a rigorous fit testing process. 

When I have an idea, I’ll first make prototypes - often I test on myself first, to get a sense of if I even like the design idea. If it’s a go, I’ll start developing it in different sizes to fit test. Most patterns we fit test in a minimum of three sizes, and we try to spread those out across the size range.

So for example, for our newest thong and cheeky Brazilian undies, I tested in an XS, a L (on myself), and a 2XL. These prototypes might need to be made differently depending on the unique requirements of the body shape and size. In a 2XL, the person might have a bigger (or “apron”) belly that makes the design a different shape than a XS body, for example. 

Of course,  larger sizes necessitate more precise design work because there’s just more body that we’re working with, and usually more curves. In my head, I’m always trying to imagine how to take a flat pattern piece and wrap it around the curves of a body. There’s also a lot of nuance in terms of where the tension is being pulled- but it’s a bit too complicated to get into here! I call this part the “architecture”  of the body.

 

 Fit testing the first prototypes of the Brazilian Undies 

It’s very important- especially in our larger sizes- that we won’t just try to take a smaller pattern and scale it up. I really have to think about how it’s going to lay on the body, wrap /pull /lift /compress in different directions, how to keep it from cutting in at the edges, how it moves with the body, if it’s going to be breathable or not, etc. There are a lot of factors! 

Once these prototypes are all made, we test them on our fit test models (which are often different from photography models, because they are specifically trained to know what feedback to give us about the fit). I take photos and get feedback from the staff who will be making the piece. They know a lot more than me in some areas, and I love to get everyone’s opinion on how they think the piece will work! 

A piece might go through one round of fit testing, or five! It just depends on how well it works. Sometimes they don’t pass the test and get scrapped. It’s always sad, but it’s better than sending something out into the world that we know won’t offer the most comfortable and affirming experience possible. 

When we have our final patterns, those get graded into the other sizes, and with other gusset options for the bottoms. We then make the final pieces to go to the photo shoot so we can get them up on the website and promote them. 

How I train the staff to create new designs

Our staff is already well-trained on how to make and modify patterns to each customer’s unique measurements, it’s one of the things that make our clothing studio special. When a new sewer is hired, they’re trained in the required tailoring skills so that we can do what our company does best- make clothing that fits perfectly to your bespoke measurements for FREE! 

We’re still the only company in the world (that we know of) that offers free custom sizing, and that means that every one of our incredible staff members is trained in the skills necessary to modify designs. It’s still a complicated process because every body is so unique, which is why we’re constantly improving techniques and offer free alterations if you ever receive a product that’s not absolutely perfect.

However, when we add a new piece to the roster, there’s still a training process where we go over to highlight any new design processes or techniques. Once we make sure everyone who will be making it is comfortable with the process and with making any alterations that will be needed, it goes live on the website! 

How do you choose who to model?

It’s important to me that we choose a broad range of models, keeping in mind that we are a small company with a limited budget. We can’t just go to an agency and pick our models from a catalog like we’re the GAP. 

Obviously, I want models who reflect the diversity of our beautiful community. It’s also a balance because we don’t want to do diversity just as lip service. With this in mind, there’s no quota for race, size, disability, etc that we make sure to hit each year. 

We choose people who exemplify queer and trans joy, who are excited about the project, who radiate, and who love showing their body, even when they (like all of us) still experience dysphoria, dysmorphia, and are just plain self-conscious sometimes. 

I love photographing people together who already are in a type of relationship. It really highlights the connections in our community and how it makes us so special. Seeing TDG people love and being loved, in tenderness, being playful… These are the images of us that I have wanted to see for so long. Many models that I’ve worked with have said that being a part of our brand’s mission was foundational in helping them love their trans bodies even more. 

On the other side, we have customers tell us so often how meaningful it is to see people like them reflected back in our imagery. Specifically, models who look like they are having fun, who are smiling and being goofy, and who look like they LOVE being in their trans bodies. That’s really why we do this- so that people can see that it’s ok not just to *exist* as a trans person, but to thrive, to love, to laugh. We deserve that. 

How often do we release new designs

When I first started designing, I would put out multiple new designs every month. They would be based on the custom looks I had designed for customers, and they would be added to an online catalog of styles that people could pick and choose from. When it was just me sewing the products, I could offer this kind of one-of-a-kind construction. 

Now that we have 6 people on the sewing production team (not counting me, who has stepped back in recent years), we have to make things replicable. So while we can tweak a design a little bit - for example, if a customer needs an alteration for a disability or a body shape that doesn’t fit our standard patterns- but these days we generally only make the products you see on the website. 

In the last couple of years, we’ve moved to focus not just on products, but also on creating in-depth, high-quality educational materials. We know right now that people don’t want to get pushed hard to buy products when we’re all already financially struggling so much to make ends meet. So while we’ll always provide trans-focused, top-notch products, the amount of new and innovative designs has been scaled back so we can put our effort into free educational resources and our community program. 

Right now I’m making 2-3 mini launches per year. This allows me to create a small limited edition capsule collection of designs in the launch colors we’ve chosen, which will only go to a small number of people. 

It keeps things fresh and unique and adds excellent lingerie pieces to our basics lineup. So if you want to get a fancy bra or harness to go with your gaff or undies, you’ll always have a cute matching set that’s unique to that season. 

Doing it this way also lets us keep focusing on providing free resources to the community that are so desperately needed right now. However, as with all of our designing and community offerings, feedback is key! So if there’s something that you feel is missing or want to see us produce, you can drop us a line at any time! 

Thanks for Being Here

I hope you can see how much heart and thought goes into every piece we create. Our process is all about listening to our community and designing with love so that everybody feels seen, celebrated, and comfortable. 

From the spark of an idea inspired by you to testing prototypes on real bodies, we’re constantly finding new ways to make fashion more inclusive and fun. Thanks for joining us on this journey—your feedback and inspiration truly make our work all the more rewarding.

Add a comment below with your ideas for what we should design next!