Generation Genderless - Issue #3

Hi - my name is Kris Harrington, CEO and Creative Director of Kris Harring Apparel Group. We specialize in gender-inclusive fashion design and product development.

Generation Genderless is your guide to the top news and insights covering gender equity and society within the fashion industry and beyond.

Indya Moore, the nonbinary actor, and activist has co-designed a capsule collection with Tommy Hilfiger called Tommy x Indya.

The size-inclusive, non-gendered designs are part of Hilfiger’s People’s Place Program, a three-pillared platform with the mission of advancing representation in fashion and beyond. The summer pre-fall 2021 Tommy x Indya capsule will be available in the U.S., Brazil, and Europe beginning Tuesday on tommy.com as well as at select locations globally.

Moore, who starred in the FX series “Pose,” said they’ve never designed apparel before and jumped at the opportunity.

“Of course, I would always be interested in a fashion brand like Tommy,” said Moore, 26, in a telephone interview. “It’s a pretty incredible opportunity. Being invited to come on the team for who I am. Tommy knows who I am, they know what I’m about and what I stand for…they wanted me because of who I am and how I show up,” said Moore, who began their career as a model at age 15 while they were moving through foster homes and enduring bullying at school. After dropping out in the 10th grade (and eventually earning a general equivalency diploma), Moore worked various photoshoots for the likes of Dior and Gucci. They were the first trans person to be featured on the cover of Elle magazine and were selected by Time Magazine for its 2019 List of 100 Most Influential People. (Read More)

After the successful drop of the Converse X SOULGOODS collection, Converse is back with another partnership. This time around, it has partnered with Telfar Clemens. The duo introduces the Converse X Telfar collection.

Telfar, a Liberian-American fashion designer, is also a DJ and the founder of TELFAR, a genderless fashion label. With the partnership, Converse and Telfar have introduced a unisex twist on a basketball style. The aim of the collection is to bring a new community into the world of sport.

The collection carries on the message of inclusivity, continuing from the Converse X Pride drop. Telfar is known for his evocative collections and brings that to the fore again for the Converse X Telfar drop.

Reimagining the classic Pro Leather sneaker, it has been reinterpreted for a new generation. As a result, two new silhouettes are introduced, the All-Star Slide and the Pro Leather Slip-On. For the All-Star Slide, it features a clean and casual slip-on sandal. Additionally, the design applies a hoops-inspired aesthetic. This is brought to the fore with a bold graphic and contrasting details.

The slip-on has the Box Star graphic on the front, with EVA foam cushioning for all-day comfort. Furthermore, it has a fine rubber mould strap and corduroy ribbing texture on the base. (Read More)

On a recent trip to the fast-fashion retailer Zara, 20-year-old Katherine Hearden loaded up on tops, shorts, and dresses in multiple sizes.

With Zara’s dressing rooms still closed due to Covid-related restrictions, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to try anything on in that store. So instead, Hearden checked out and schlepped across the street with her dad to another department store, where she grabbed a random pair of jeans and popped into an open fitting room. Her plan all along was to use this store to try on her Zara picks and, unabashedly, send her dad back to Zara to return what she wasn’t going to keep.

“My poor dad,” said Hearden, a student at Boston College, in an interview. “We make him wait in lines everywhere we go.”

Hearden’s experience underscores a bigger dilemma that clothing companies have been grappling with for years, but one that was specially illuminated during the pandemic. Retailers from Gap to Lululemon to American Eagle had to close stores to customers for a number of weeks last spring. And even as clothing stores began to reopen, many companies still opted to keep fitting rooms closed, in an attempt to prevent the spread of Covid. Some of them, like Zara’s, remain closed in parts of the United States.

The headaches for consumers are somewhat obvious: Not being able to try on items in stores means potentially stocking up on extra sizes, like Hearden did, to later see what works at home. Shoppers tend to employ a similar strategy when looking for clothes or shoes online — they’ll buy a dress in two or even three sizes — which has increasingly happened over the course of the health crisis. For businesses, this chain of events sends return rates skyrocketing. And that comes with a cost. With the Covid pandemic serving as somewhat of a wake-up call, retailers including the biggest in the country, Walmart, are looking for ways to solve the fitting-room dilemma.

Consumers returned roughly $428 billion in merchandise last year, or about 10.6% of total retail sales in the U.S., according to a study by the National Retail Federation. Clothing made up about 12.2% of that, the NRF said, adding that for every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer incurs $106 million in merchandise returns. (Read More)

Generation Genderless is a free newsletter that I curate on my own time to spread awareness about issues related to gender around the world. If you like what you’ve read and would like to support Generation Genderless, please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend or colleague or purchasing our merch to support Gender Inclusive design.

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