playwear: a gender-inclusive clothing line for kids
a branding case study
Every kid is special. That’s why at playwear we don’t put restrictions on kids or force them into boxes, every kid can be whomever they want to be! playwear is a subscription box clothing service that helps parents pick out clothing for their kids while maintaining childlike joy, imagination, and hope in their kids. playwear is specially made to get dirty and last — it’s guaranteed for life. Our clothing is also sensory approved so that every kid is happy, and each piece is made of sustainable and ethically sourced recycled cotton, so the earth is happy too! playwear is made for those ages 3–6.
The Problem
This past winter I took a class about breaking binaries in gender, health, and sexuality. Throughout the intensive class, I found myself drawn to discussions of sexual education for children and gender-inclusive parenting. I learned that gender is not strictly black and white, some people are in between, across, or are neither! Kids are incredibly creative and free, they don’t care about what’s in your pants or what you wear, they just want to get to know you!
In my own life, I have many non-binary and gender non-conforming friends and acquaintances. I adore seeing them live their best lives. At the same time, however; I have had deep discussions with them about their struggle to come out and be their true selves in a society that punishes difference and people who live outside the binary. They frequently wished for a childhood where they could have been free to be who they wanted to be without labels or boxes to be placed in.
Additionally, most of my friends (and I!) despise the strict male/female split in clothing stores, when clothing has no gender(!). Even with the growing consciousness of identities beyond men and women — such as intersex, non-binary, gender-nonconforming, and agender people — clothing is still restricted and many people still think in a binary framework.
With this in mind, I knew I wanted to design a gender-neutral and inclusive clothing line that would inspire children to PLAY and experiment with their style and identity.
Research
Research is a fundamental part of designing, it is important to base your brand and design decisions on the information you have gathered around the hypothetical brand. Designers must be thorough and focus on possible customers, existing brands, and background information about important facets of the future brand. Visual research and brainstorming are additionally helpful when designing the brand.
First, I researched why a brand like playwear should exist. Read about what I found out about breaking binaries and sensory-friendly clothing in my research case study.
Next, I began interviewing people who may use playwear or whose experiences would aid in my design decisions. I created User Personas off of these possible consumers.
I reached out and interviewed a parent of two young children to hear her experience buying clothing for her kids. She explained that it was difficult to find gender-neutral clothing that both her children could wear. Her family liked to use hand-me-downs to save money in the long term. It was essential that pieces would last a long time and would withstand many washes in the laundry.
Additionally, I reached out to a few non-binary friends to hear their thoughts on the term “gender-neutral” vs unisex vs “gender-inclusive” etcetera. My sample size was very minimal but I still gained some valuable insights.
One respondent writes about the term “gender-inclusive”:
i think gender inclusive is a much more helpful term because the real goal of a fashion line i believe is to have an artistic voice but be inclusive in size and fit so that every body can comfortably wear it
Another person explained how gender-neutral clothing, should just be called clothing, which I found to be such an intelligent way to think, as it’s true! — clothing is just clothing.
I decided to use the term gender-inclusive primarily and gender-neutral occasionally based on my research. My research was not comprehensive as I did not have time to do the necessary linguistic, social, and cultural research behind the term, but “gender-inclusive” seemed fitting for now. Read more about my conclusions about the gender binary and sensory-friendly clothing.
In my own personal research the last few months, I thoroughly researched neurodiversity and autism, as I am neurodivergent myself. I was fascinated to learn about the spectrum of disorders and the ableism that persists throughout society. I learned that some autistic people have sensory issues and avoid clothing with itchy tags, uncomfortable fabric, and excessive zippers and ties. With this in mind, I wanted playwear to be sensory-friendly so that all children could enjoy the freeing nature of the brand.
About playwear
With my research in mind, I began consolidating the value propositions of playwear.
gender-inclusive clothing
Clothing is still gendered these days, even with a push for more inclusivity and a rejection of binaries. These borders can have a lasting negative effect on children, and crush their natural unique spirit. Kids don’t care about labels; they just want to wear what makes them happy! Children are a testament to how we adults should live life too — free of restrictions and attempts to appease or make other people happy.
That is why playwear has no gendered sections or colors, every kid can wear every piece. Each parent can take the playwear style quiz and their child will be sorted into a style group based on their preferences.
sustainable, ethically created pieces, made to last
Parents are also searching for pieces that are made to last. They are willing to spend the extra buck if it means that the clothing won’t fall apart in the washer. Additionally, they are looking for sustainable, ethically made pieces that make these slightly pricier pieces worth it.
With that in mind, playwear is guaranteed for life. If the customer finds the pieces looking a tad worse for wear, send them back and we will send a brand-new pair back!
user-friendly sizing
With the restrictions of gendered clothing, size charts, and the difficulty of finding a perfect size while online shopping, we will find the perfect size for customers’ kids! Just input the child’s height and weight and we will find their match.
Additionally, playwear is perfect for hand-me-downs! The great-quality pieces are perfect to pass down kid-to-kid which saves parents additional money in the long term. For ease of use, each outfit is stamped with a size between sizes 2–12 and short, regular, and tall. If the parent needs help determining if a hand-me-down is a perfect size and their kid is unable to try on the pieces, they can call our hotline or email customer service for more help!
sensory-friendly
Some kids, especially kids with autism, have trouble with certain textures or clothing tags, our clothing is super soft and has no tags! Made of comforting recycled cotton fabric with zero itchy clothing tags, playwear is great for all kids! Instead of a thick, uncomfortable fabric clothing tag, each tag is screen-printed on the inside of the shirt.
Branding
When coming up with the branding for playwear, I first started brainstorming names for the company and sketched primary logo ideas. I additionally jotted down existing brand names for inspiration. I really liked the name playwear as the visual of a pair of overalls would be friendly and cute while the name was a smart reference to workwear. Additionally, I liked names like “little pear” or “little pomme”, as fruit is genderless! I also liked “out of the box” as it hinted towards the imaginative minds of little children, how they should never be forced to fit into labels or binaries — they should be free to do what they want.
Finally, I chose “playwear” for the brand name as I thought the name would work well with tough well-made coveralls and overalls that would be sold by the brand. These “playwear” items would be perfect for boundless, imaginative play. Playing off the original descriptor “workwear” would reference the growing trend of bright coveralls and overalls amongst adults while referencing the youthful spirit that kids would display while wearing playwear.
Logo Research
Before I started creating the logo comps, I began researching similar logos and brands to influence my design decisions. I found that many brands used type heavy logomarks for the brand with fun graphic accents or cute simple illustrations.
Final Logo
With this in mind, I finally settled on a bold logotype in a bright red color, in a fun bouncy arrangement. This mark was matched with a simplified illustration of a pair of smiling overalls in a vibrant bright blue. Both marks reference the playfulness of the brand.
Final Style
When creating the style, I knew I needed something fun and playful for the kids, but appropriate and easy to understand for the parents as well. After creating a mood board to brainstorm the final style, I decided that a graphic sketchy, almost sticker-like style would work for most of the visual elements with bold and clean typography for the website and other collateral pieces.
I choose Poppins semi-bold for the typography as it was bold, easy to read, and just playful enough while being user-friendly.
The logotype would be used on the site with a more responsive version of the overalls to be readable at a smaller size.
I chose bright bold colors for the brand to match the child-like spirit of the company. The colors are never tied to genders or masculine or feminine characteristics — colors are for all!
Additionally, there are different color palettes tied to different themes of clothing. The fruity color palette is full of bright reds, greens, blues, and more. The zany color palette is extra unique with vibrant purples, greens, and blues. The fresh color palette is are great basics with red, yellow, white, and blue.
I decided to frequently use fun facial features in my branding, by anthropomorphizing the foods and other items visualized on the clothing. These illustrative elements reference the community of love and acceptance we form when we celebrate difference, exploration, and imagination. I wanted these personified objects to hint towards the individuality of each kid, how every child is different in their own way, and that makes them special!
Brand Attributes
playwear is fun, playful, open-minded, creative, diverse, gender-inclusive, and unique.
Clothing
I began researching adult clothing brands to visualize what I wanted to be sold at playwear with the brand attributes in mind as the clothing line should be bright, fun, playful, and gender-inclusive.
Finally, I started designing! Due to restrictions of the pandemic and my online classes, I was unable to do physical prototypes; therefore, I used digital mockups to display my designs. If I had ample time to expand this project, I would include pajama sets, button-downs, dresses, and more! With this in mind, I decided to focus on hoodies, t-shirts, overalls, and coveralls for playwear.
The hoodie design utilizes patterns made out of quirky illustrations.
Sewn-on patches decorate the coveralls and overalls. The coveralls are dyed to match the vibrant branding.
The sensory-friendly screen printed clothing label replaces the popular, itchy, fabric tag.
Website
The website allows parents to buy clothing for their children. They can order a subscription box or order pieces individually. I stickered the pages with fun illustrated elements to make the experience unique and welcoming. Additionally, the interface is simple and bold to make the site user-friendly.
In order to make the online shopping process easier, the parents can simply input their child’s height and weight and playwear will do the rest.
Parents are able to take a style quiz to find the perfect clothing for their child. The quiz is based on the child’s personality traits, interests, and hobbies rather than the male and female dichotomy.
Subscription Box
Parents can order a curated subscription box for their children. There are two different size boxes, the be you pack with three outfits, and the imagine pack, which has six outfits.
Stickers
The subscription box includes a free sticker sheet that customers can use to show off their personal style!
Marketing Card
The subscription box also includes a marketing card that explains playwear’s values.
Collateral
Canvas Bag
Additionally, I created a canvas bag to be sold by the brand.
Business Cards
I designed business cards to be used by employees who work at playwear.
Conclusions
All people will benefit from a breakdown of binaries, whether tied to gender, health, or disability. We need to foster love, acceptance, and imagination, and moving from the gender binary in our clothing is one way to start. Check out my finished research-based case study for playwear and my portfolio site!
Enjoy! :)
Credits
Design: Heather Marshall
Art Direction: Bryan Satalino
Categories: Design, Branding, Clothing Design
Creative Timeframe: January to April 2020
School: Tyler School of Art and Architecture; Graphic and Interactive Design
