Tag Archives: Fashion Designer

Maternity Wear Company Caters to LGBTQ Bodies

If you do a quick Google search of ‘maternity wear’, you’ll be greeted with a plethora of similar images. Almost all of the suggestions of clothes to fit a pregnant body will be some sort of dress, be it professional and sleek or maxi and ready for the summer. Many of the maternity clothes are also typically ‘feminine’ colours or have floral prints on them too. And while this may suit some, for many pregnant people, this is exclusionary.

This is an issue that very often leaves pregnant LGBTQ people in a dilemma. For example, pregnant trans men may struggle to find clothes that suit their bodies due to the fact that it’s uncommon that maternity lines will make clothes for pregnant men. Non-binary or genderqueer bodies also aren’t catered to and neither are lesbians who prefer more masculine clothes.

This is a problem that Butchbaby & Co. would like to solve, and later this year the company will release a line of “alternity wear for pregnant masculine, transgender, and queer individuals” that includes sweaters, jeans, hoodies and boxer briefs.

The company’s vision statement explains that:

The vision of Butchbaby & Co. is to create a world where pregnant individuals’ identities don’t have to change just because one’s body does. Alternity wear is the alternative to the hyperfeminine, heteronormative, eurocentric maternity wear that only exists today.”

Butchbaby & Co 01

What is also positive is that Butchbaby is part of a growing, inclusive trend. As profiled by ABC News, there are also companies like Bluestockings Boutique which offers a range of queer-owned and designer underwear brands and there is also the Los Angeles-based company Sharpe Suiting which makes bespoke suits without making assumptions about the wearer’s gender or identity.

Butchbaby & Co 02

We may still be a long way away from clothing retailers doing away with ‘male’ and ‘female’ sections in their stores, but hopefully this trend continues.

 

Out Fashion Designer Phoebe Dahl is Educating Women the Help of New Clothing Line

Some of you may recognise Phoebe Dahl because of her high-profile relationship with model and soon to be megastar of Orange Is The New Black, Ruby Rose.

However, you are set to see her in a very different light – for her fashion and clothing line which is helping young girls receive an education.

She uses durable and simple organic fabrics to create elegant, comfortable and functional linen dresses, tops and bottoms for women.

However, for Dahl clothes are much more than a reflection of individual style.

The Los Angeles based designer’s fashion label, Faircloth & Supply, is an ethical women’s linen line working towards increasing the economic empowerment of women worldwide.

Dahl – the daughter of screenwriter Lucy Dahl and granddaughter of celebrated author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal – has spent most of her adult years in the world of fashion.

She attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco, studied at the London College of Fashion, and worked with Amsterdam designer Jupe By Jackie.

However, on a recent business trip to Japan, she was exposed to textile mills producing stunning linen, and on the streets there she saw girls wearing the fabric in beautiful, oversize silhouettes.

A subsequent trip to India, where she was struck by its grave poverty, left her with the resolve to meld her interest in design with a philanthropic cause.

After setting up a small studio in Silver Lake, she researched women’s rights charities and designed the first pieces for Faircloth & Supply.

One of the reasons why I started my company is because I love fashion, but I didn’t want to be a part of the cutthroat industry [in New York]. I needed to create a company where I can do what I love, which is sewing, designing, and also being able to travel and do charity work. So I just kind of dreamed it up… and this is it.”

Every purchase from the collection provides a girl in Nepal with a school uniform through the GO Campaign, which works directly with the Nepalese non-profit organization General Welfare Pratisthan.


In addition to granting her enrolment in school, a uniform makes a Nepalese girl less likely to be the target of sex traffickers and other exploitation.

We’ve put 1,000 girls through school who wouldn’t have otherwise gone. We’re hoping to triple [that number] this year, fingers crossed. I get caught up when I’m over here in my busy life, and then I go back over there and I realize why I’m doing this and why I have to work so hard.”

Last spring, after only three months of dating, Dahl became engaged to Ruby Rose. Their schedules mean that the pair is on the road a lot, but they plan to wed in late 2016, once things calm down.

For now, they live in Silver Lake with a flock of rescued animals and try to use the attention they receive for good.

“We try to be good role models. Especially for the gay community and young gay women. People message us with stories, and we always make a point to respond and be there.”

A clothing collaboration with Rose is in the making, but no details have been given yet.

A Christmas Present gift with a difference, Tom Ford’s Phallic Accessory

For those of you in search of a Crimbo gift with a difference, then designer Tom Ford has a creative suggestion.

The fashion designer has just released a perfectly phallic accessory, which is setting the prudent public alight.

The new crafted necklace is similar in design to a crucifix, and this design coincidence has the Catholic Church enraged.

P-Pendant-tom-ford

Ford’s controversial ‘Penis Pendant’ fittingly comes in small, medium and large sizes, in either palladium-plated silver or gold plated brass. Priced at $790 each, they’re certainly among the more opulent gifts this season.

Ford’s decision to market these pendants near the holidays has caused a massive backlash, with anti-gay Catholic League president Bill Donohue being among those haters to speak out loudest – targeting Ford’s sexuality in his ranting.

He writes…

“When we learned of this item, I said to the staff that I bet this guy Tom Ford is a homosexual. I was right. He even thinks he’s married.”

Hurrah for the homophobes Christmas spirit.

New York Fashion Week | It’s Who You Know Behind the Scenes That Counts – #NYFW

Aside from the best-known NYFW power players: Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld, Glenda Bailey among them, there is a group of less obvious influential movers and shakers who make NYFW what it is.

Jenna LyonsThe Creative Director

Out Jenna Lyons is the queen of juxtaposition: pairing chunky jewellery with plain white shirts, pencil skirt with embellished cardigan. She is the tall, beautiful and incredibly stylish leader of J. Crew, and a women who turned the brand image and appeal around in just a few years. She will be presenting the new spring ’15 J. Crew collection at NYFW. Making the mass retailer one of the only to present atNYFW. Why because J. Crew is now creating trends instead of adopting them and has the power to influence and inspire even luxury brands.

The Fashion Hub

The trio Jenné Lombardo, Mazdack Rassi, and Keith Baptista are the faces behind MADE. In the past six years they have helped launching the careers of Alexander Wang, Hood by Air and Altuzarra, just to name a few. With an impressive lineup that goes from Gareth Pugh to Cushnie et Ochs and Maison Kitsune this coming week, MADE is guaranteed to deliver some major fashion moments.

The Retail Fashion Directors

6 powerhouses -Tomoko Ogura (Barneys), Linda Fargo (Bergdorf Goodman), Ken Downing (Neiman Marcus), Colleen Sherin (Saks), Jeffrey Kalinsky (Nordstrom), Holli Rogers (Net-a-porter), who will be sitting in the first rows of most NYFW shows. They are typically unknown to the general public, however they ‘the’ most important people there. Editors can make or break a designer reputation, but this small group of discerning fashion gurus have the final word on “who’s in and who’s out”. They have the power to make a young designer and the money. Every designer is eager to impress them, and for a very good reason: The retail fashion directors decide who and what will be displayed in their beautiful stores next season.

The PR Agent

Libby Haan boutique agency Haan Projects represents designers like Adam Lippes, Creatures of the Wind and, Schiaparelli, and is one of the New York PR powerhouses. She has been running Haan Projects since 2010 after spending 15 years working in fashion PR for the most exclusive brands. Her role like with other PR gurus, is to be the ring master at every NYFW event. Not only is in charge of her clients’ image and press, but organizing the shows from A to Z including deciding which VIPs should occupy the front rows.

Mickey BoardmanThe Bloggers

The Coveteur is widely-recognised as the go-to source for behind-the-scenes, unparalleled access to the world’s most influential celebrities, tastemakers, events and prestigious brands. Started by Toronto-based Stephanie Mark and Jake Rosenberg started in 2011, The Coveteur gives its readers a voyeuristic look inside untapped territory (think: closets, homes, backstage, ateliers and archives), The Coveteur works closely with the world’s most notable brands to tell their story in a unique, compelling way.

The Fashion Editor

Look out for Mickey Boardman of PAPER Magazine powerful words. With his quick wit, big personality and sharp tongue, not to mention an incredible eye for fashion and talent, Boardman has risen from intern to editorial director. He’s famous for discovering new designers and NYFW wouldn’t be complete without him. This week “Mr. Mickey” (as he’s also known) is planning to attend the “Marc Jacobs, Public School, Michael Kors, Suno, Calvin Klein, Azede Jean-Pierre, and Proenza Schouler shows, plus anything at Milk Studios”.