This article was originally published by the Star Observer. You can find the original article here.
Transform Transwear, a Melbourne-based business dedicated to creating comfortable clothing for trans and nonbinary people, has been named a finalist in the 2024 Melbourne Awards.
This annual award honours individuals and organisations that make Melbourne a more inclusive, creative, and forward-thinking place.
For Transform Transwear, making it to the final shortlist is an opportunity to normalise the trans experience.
“It’s awesome,” says founder Simone Kelly, “Let’s get this stuff out into the mainstream so more people become aware of it.”
Bound to succeed
Launched seven months ago after years of development, Transform Transwear emerged from a gap in the Australian market for comfortable, affordable chest binders.
A binder is a compression garment often worn by trans men, nonbinary people, and anyone seeking a more masculine chest shape.
Until recent years, Australians have only been able to buy binders from overseas online retailers. This means that binders have been expensive to ship, slow to arrive, impossible to try on, and difficult to return. The intimate nature of these items has also made the market a target for scammers.
The company’s founder, Simone Kelly, created Transform Transwear after struggling to find binders for her stepson.
“It started when Eli at 13 came out as trans, and we found it really hard to find binders. At that time there were a couple of Australian businesses who ostensibly stocked binders – but didn’t really, they were always out of stock and we could never get them. So we had to do the gamble of ordering things from overseas.”
“It took a really long time, and the sizing and the fit and the comfort levels were such an enormous gamble.”
“I was thinking, ‘let’s get some binders into Australia and make it easier for people to access them, because it’s such a basic item of clothing.’ Like, imagine not being able to source underwear – it’s ridiculous.”
“We had to order them from all over the place – we were ordering them from Etsy, from Europe and America, everywhere we could get them. And I was just really angry and upset when they arrived, because the quality was really poor, and they weren’t cheap!”
“I thought my child deserved better, that’s for sure. I just felt a massive sense of injustice. I just thought it should be better. I thought ‘someone should be doing something about it, but no one’s doing it, so I’ll just do it.’”
Transform Transwear has created a close-knit community hub
Beyond creating its own designs, Transform Transwear has also built a community around education and peer support, offering resources on gender-affirming care and creating a safe space for customers to ask questions without judgement.
As well as designing binders, the business also runs style and information events catering to people just starting out in their transition, and involves the community in their design process.
“We’ve had surveys on the website, we’ve got people who will be rigorously testing every single garment from the sample stage and giving us feedback, we’ve got a [new] sports binder and an AFL player who will be doing all the testing for us – so we’re really letting the community guide us into what direction they want us to go in.
“And we’ve just started doing top surgery post-operative binders that we’re supplying to a surgeon in Melbourne.”
Simone emphasises that the company’s mission is as much about sharing resources and normalising trans experiences as it is about providing high-quality pieces.
“We’ve got so many huge plans. We’re not interested in stocking things that are already in the market – we really want to address pain points and make things easier and help people find clothes that fit properly and make them feel really good.”
“I’m not really interested in just selling clothes. I’ve always wanted to get to a place where we are a resource for other people and we can hopefully make other people’s journeys a little bit simpler. Just trying to make people feel less alone and hold their hand through their journey.”
“We’ve always wanted to be a community hub. That’s been number one really, more than anything else.”
“I do think we can make a difference because we have the determination to do it.”
Transform Transwear in good company among queer finalists
Being a finalist for the Melbourne Awards places the business under a much larger spotlight.
This public recognition, Simone says, is an indication they’re going in the right direction. “I got contacted to apply, and I thought ‘oh yeah OK, I’ll apply’ but it’s actually been really wonderful.”
“We had to go before a panel and present and answer lots of questions. I kind of enjoyed it in the end because they were all such interesting people doing interesting things.”
“It was a genuinely awesome life experience and a great group of people to meet, and as part of this I’m looking forward to meeting the other finalists when we go to the event next week. It’s been unexpectedly fulfilling and inspiring.”
Also in the running for this year’s awards are VincentCare’s Ozanam House and Homelessness Resource Centre, Queer Town, and Trans Pride March Melbourne including the Trans Pride Concert.
The winner will be announced in the 2024 Melbourne Awards ceremony on November 9. You can learn more about Transform Transwear here.
