Lingerie designer Bok Goodall has collaborated with model Winn Austin to create what they call “the first global sizing standard” for transgender women.
The idea to create this lingerie range came about when Goodall realised that there were no standardised sizes for trans women.
In an interview with BBC, Austin, who is a transgender model, said she collaborated with Goodall because she believed the development had the potential to change someone’s life.
“As trans women, we are all different shapes physiologically (and) it’s difficult to walk into a lingerie department and ask the questions because most of the time the people who are serving you don’t have the answers. It’s not brain surgery or a cure for cancer, but I think it could save someone’s life,” she said.
The “Ms A London” lingerie range was created to suit people at every stage of their transition.
“What we’ve tried to consider is ways of helping to make the wearer present as female, whether that’s nipping in the waist and the hips, tucking anything away or creating a bust,” said Goodall.
On how she collaborated with Austin, she shared: “As soon as we came to making the first sample, it became evident that there’s nothing to work from, so we started working with Austin to create a base size.
“Some people don't understand the need for this. They believe that unisex sizing – small, medium, large – already exists. But it’s so far from unisex, it’s a very specific sizing standard that we want to create. It will bring visibility and inclusion, it’s everything that trans women need from society in a way. Being able to go out and buy something in your size and know that it’s going to fit, I think that is huge, but it should be fundamental. We should all be able to do that. This has to happen, it has to happen.”
Goodall said the British Standards Institution (BSI), did not take into account trans women’s wider waists, hips or longer torsos. However, with her new lingerie range she’s working with BSI to create the perfect sizes for trans women.