Four transgender fashion designers making clothes anyone would want in their closet

These rising stars of the catwalk are redefining the boundaries of style with their gender-neutral and unisex outfits for all shapes and sizes

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Leon Wu, founder of Sharpe Suiting. Photo: courtesy of Sharpe Suiting

Published: 5:48pm, 20 Sep 2017Updated: 5:48pm, 20 Sep 2017

No one does fashion better than the queer [LGBTQ] community, states the lifestyle site pride.com. Still, perhaps just because their time has not yet come, transgender designers are rare – much rarer than transgender models.

Gospel singer Kim Burrell ‘converted’ trans designer O’Rhonde Chapman earlier this year. Photo: AFP

In fact, the ranks of transgender designers have thinned. In January this year, it emerged that Houston trans designer O’Rhonde Chapman had been converted to the straight path by gospel singer Kim Burrell. Likewise, the Seattle fashion house run by transgender tailor Leo Roux recently announced it could no longer move forward due to lack of funding.

The transgender models breaking down the barriers of bigotry

However, other rising fashion designers remain defiantly trans. Meet four survivors whose fluid work redefines the boundaries of style.

Wu (left) at work in Sharpe Suiting. Photo: courtesy of Sharpe Suiting

Leon Wu

A transgender man, Leon Wu from Los Angeles is the founder and chief product officer of Sharpe Suiting: a gender-neutral fashion house that makes suits, blazers, shirts and other professional gear for all body types, including transgender.

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