“Everyone’s body is changing throughout their life, this is especially true for trans people. What if our clothes could change with us?”

– Valentin Schwarz

I went from having a chest size F to completely flat. I went from having fat on my hips to having fat on my belly. I got wider shoulders than before and thinner thighs. I am a trans man. My body is finally morphing into something I recognise when I look in the mirror. Transitioning was the best and hardest thing I have ever done for myself.

The fashion designer in me started to wonder; would it have been possible for my clothes to morph with me? For them to go from being loose on the chest to tight? For them to be looser on my shoulders? For them to go from normative to queer? What if I didn’t have to throw garments out for not fitting anymore?

This collection is an experiment bending the rules of tailoring and gender norms. The patterning technique I developed was inspired by the way bondage works; the ropes can fit any human body. I realized that the ropes can be used to create a “map” on two sheets of fabric that I can follow, this becomes a tunnel for the rope. As a result the garments can be adjusted in length, width, fit and style to accommodate the changes of the body or mood.

The line-up consists of six looks, each representing and twisting stereotypical gender roles; the wine mom, the basketball dad, the construction worker, the fisherman, man in suit and woman in ball gown.

Ps. The title of the collection is a tribute to Magnus Hirschfeld, who’s research on queer people would have been ground breaking if the Nazis didn’t burn it all in 1930. Let’s not allow something like that to happen again.