After coming out as trans in 2020, designer Willie Norris decided to reimagine menswear from a more trans and genderfluid lens. This perspective received the full support from ready-to-wear menswear label Outlier, for which she serves as the design director.

“I think what I am doing as a trans woman designer at the helm of a menswear brand is quite important,” says Norris in an interview with them, “and the tension between these two things is creating some incredibly exciting stuff.”

Norris goes on to say: “In terms of designing these pieces, I know how these clothes fit because I’ve worn them and still wear them. Technically there are not many differences between menswear and womenswear other than merchandising — the differences are smaller than we let ourselves think”.

For her manifesto on her website, Norris writes: “Working under the manifesto of “QUEER ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A MEANS OF DEFENSE,” I aim to celebrate, honour, and indulge queer identity by prioritising the collective capital of LGBTQ+ people, rather than the external forces that seek to capitalise on them. I view queerness, in the words of L.A. Kauffman, as “more of a posture of opposition than a simple statement about sexuality,” and I am constantly interested in de-centering static and stable conceptions of business structures, particularly how queer principles can exist at the core of businesses operating within the apparel industry”.

All images by Laurel Golio