This Forthcoming Online Department Store Crushes the Gender Divide

Gender-neutral and all-gender clothing is catching on. The Lena Dunham produced documentary Suited, which followed LGBT-friendly tailoring company Bindle & Keep, premiered this year. Big name retailers like Zara are launching gender-neutral clothing lines, but the most interesting all-gender clothing is coming from the LGBT community. Independent brands like Kirrin Finch and Matriarch have tapped into an excited community that wants an alternative to the Men’s and Women’s sections through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
Harridan Township’s recently launched Kickstarter shows the same desire to reach consumers directly. The forthcoming online department store is the latest venture by Saint Harridan—a suiting company founded by Mary Going that provides ready-to-wear suits with a masculine cut for women and trans men.Harridan Township will carry Saint Harridan’s suits and shirts, as well as four additional clothing lines: Mr. Mary, for a more feminine line of suits; Crow & King, for casual streetwear; Button Row, for feminine dresses; and Love Jeffery, a line created with public speaker, youth advocate, and guest designer Jeffrey Marsh.Like the aforementioned crowdfunded brands, Harridan Township is also tapping into a new awareness about harmful industry practices and a consumer desire for ethically manufactured goods. The department store will carry only vendors that adhere to ethical manufacturing practices. For the moment, that means their clothing is made locally in California with family-owned businesses who pay their employees a living wage and provide safe work environments.Harridan Township’s sizing system will do away with traditional Men’s and Women’s sizing in favor of a universal sizing system. "Once you really study the shape and size of people’s bodies, it turns out that knowing a person’s sex is not all that useful as a data point," says Chris Alvaro, Harridan Township’s Creative Director. Harridan Township’s garments will fit multiple body types and come in a wide range of sizes. If you’ve been wearing from a Men’s 28 to 50 and/or a Women’s 6 to 24, Harridan Township will carry your size.According to Harridan Township’s Kickstarter, the store doesn’t aim to be gender-neutral. Instead, they say, "We are gender excited, gender experimental, gender queering." To find out more about the gender bucking department store, visit Harridan Township’s Kickstarter.