Surprise, surprise. Every day is starting to feel more dystopian, and we are slowly becoming desensitised to radical news. Let’s be real, without trans people fashion would be flat, safe, and dripping in beige minimalism similar to the beige baby movement. If you didn’t know or hadn’t noticed already, the industry loves to “borrow” from trans aesthetics, trans bodies, and trans expression; rarely giving it any credit. From being underground to the front row, trans creatives have and are always going to shape fashion’s edge. And yet, they’re still treated like an optional extra; stick to Pride month or someone’s diversity checkboxes if you must.


Fashion has always been a way to claim your identity, whether you say you are interested in fashion or not, you decide what you wear each day. For a trans person, that expression has become more powerful, a tool for visibility, survival, protest, and joy. It’s not just an outfit; it's resistance. Style and clothes are how you walk into a room and say, ‘I exist exactly as I am’, in a world that often says you shouldn't.


However, whilst fashion might be celebrating “diversity” on runways, the real world is continuing to move backwards. In recent news, judges at the UK Supreme Court have decided that a woman is defined by biological sex under the equalities law. This gives police the power to question and essentially gender-check women they suspect are trans. This interim position is open to a perverted abuse of power. Police officers will be granted the power to “check” women’s genitalia, claiming they suspect an individual of being trans in another way to harass and assault women. That’s going to be incredible for anyone’s dignity, trans or not. It’s worth pausing to imagine how things might feel if the roles were reversed, if those who’ve never had their identity questioned suddenly found themselves asked to prove it. Being scrutinised, doubted, or asked to expose your body simply to exist in public spaces. It’s a reality many are lucky enough to never face, but for others it may become a reality. While brands profit off trans aesthetics, real trans people are being legislated out of existence. You can't claim to be inclusive in your campaigns while staying silent on the criminalisation of people’s identities. Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s political. Always has been. Always will be.


No more tokenism, fashion doesn’t need to make space for trans people. That space already exists. The fashion industry needs to stop exploiting trans culture while ignoring trans lives. Pay them. Protect them. Hire them beyond the runway. Let them direct, design, create, and call the shots.


To name a few who are taking the creative world by storm we have Munroe Bergdorf, a voice we have known for a while in fashion and politics. She is a contributing editor for British Vogue and has written a book coming this year called Talk To Me, a book for young adults about using their voice. Richie Shazam, a photographer, model and director who embodies fluidity and creates powerful storytelling art. Gogo Graham, an incredible designer who exclusively casts trans femmes in her shows and creates garments tailored to their bodies. Gogo’s work isn’t just fashion, it’s a part of protection, it’s storytelling and its beautiful rebellion. And of course we have everyone’s chronically online icon, Alex Consani who took the modelling world by storm and won model of the year in 2024.