Transmasculine mannequins are launching next week.
It wasn’t long ago that store mannequins came in one size fits all. Plus-size and curvy figures can be found across a variety of retailers. Old Navy last month said it had begun showcasing large sizes and standard sizes in displays on its sales floors. Retailers such as Target
The last frontier is transmasculine and transfeminine mannequins, which have different specs than existing models and have been slow to appear in retail displays. Fusion, the world largest maker of custom-designed mannequins partnered with The Phluid Project, which is launching a gender-neutral Phluid Green Label collection at Nordstrom
Called Prism, the gender non-conforming collection is authentic and fearless, a first-of-its kind collaboration for retail representation. The collection represents self-expression through gender non-conforming mannequins in order to provide all brands an opportunity to celebrate everyone who walks through their doors no matter how they identify.
Prism includes gender-free, transmasculine, and transfeminine mannequins in both standard and body positive sizing.
“We were one of the first manufacturers to create plus size and differently-abled mannequins,” said Adam Moon, executive creative director of Fusion. “It was a different piece of the retail puzzle we needed to create for the trans mannequins.
“As the Phluid project started, it seemed like the perfect project to leverage some of their intelligence,” Moon added. “They have ambassadors, which is this vast resource. We could very easily have a created a collection internally and done it in a vacuum. Wanted to do it authentically and capture gender nonconformity really well.”
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Fusion started from scratch, leveraging the intelligence of the Phluid Project ambassadors. “If we’re going to represent gender-free folks, the best way is to have a gender free body, one that feels more transmasculine and one that feels more transfeminine. The Phluid ambassadors bared their souls to us. They said we’ve never seen ourselves in a store in a mannequin.”
The gender-neutral mannequins will attract younger consumers. Gen Z, the most fluid of cohorts, will relate to the new mannequins since 50 percent of men shop outside of their gender, Moon said.
“The mannequins can show how different bodies can wear anything,” Moon added. “They can be the best representation of ourselves. They send a message to the customer that it’s the right size displayed on a mannequin they identify with. It tells them that the brand gets them. Gen Z and Millennials can see through inauthenticity. This feels like a great new way to get younger customers.”
“We’re getting positive responses for our bravery for doing this,” Moon said. “There are these challenges of doing something that’s never been done before.”
Unlike some gender-fluid brands, Phluid Green Label is anything but basic. “We worked really hard on creating silhouettes the are adjustable and fit different bodies,” Smith said. “We’re not afraid to do a tiny little baby T, but also oversized Tees. Pants have elastic waists and can be adjusted so they fit different types of bodies. The plaid woven items have a dropped shoulder seam, so it makes a different shoulder placement.”
“It’s going to take one disruptor to put a mannequin in the sand and show that this is how to represent gender-free,” Moon said. “We’re seeing some major brands online such as Nike
“This is also one of those great projects where we collaborated so heavily and it was an opportunity to help retailers meet younger customers where they are, not where we think they are and come with the most authentic and earnest approach possible.” The gender-free mannequin will bow at Nordstrom’s Bellevue, Washington store where Phluid Green Label is launching.
