Australian underwear brand Bonds has launched gender-free online shopping, alongside a new collection and campaign for Sydney World Pride 2023.
The move is part of Bonds’ UnGENderwear Project, created in 2022 to challenge gender norms and stereotypes in the fashion industry.
Bonds marketing manager Kedda Ghazarian confirmed gender-free online shopping launched in January, provided alongside gendered options.
It is presented as an additional navigational tab on the website to allow customers to shop outside of existing mens and womens options.
“So you can shop our ranges however you prefer – whether that’s with gender, or without,” Ghazarian said.
Bonds works with LGBTQIA+ youth organisation Minus18, as well as community advocates and panels to develop its UnGENderwear project.
“As part of our nationwide study, we were thrilled to see that our customers are ready to go on this journey too – with 81% of respondents wanting to see more support for trans, non-binary and gender diverse shoppers,” Ghazarian said.
“We also conducted workshop intensives and store walk-throughs with our UnGENderwear advocates to gain more insight – which helped to highlight the importance of staff training and education as the first step on the journey to genderfree shopping.
Alongside the launch of gender-free shopping, Bonds has also rolled out a Gender Inclusivity staff training program across its entire store network and head offices.
“For now, we’re focusing on an online experience that is accessible to all Bonds shoppers across Australia,” Ghazarian said. “Community consultation will be critical to informing the next steps we take, and we want to create space to listen and learn.”
“As we move into our second year of the [UnGENderwear] initiative, we’re focused on delivering the remaining initiatives we’ve committed to and continuing an open dialogue with the LGBTQIA+ community and our customers to keep building on this as we go.”
This includes undertaking a comprehensive audit of all gendered terms used across product and packaging, and review any deemed non-inclusive by 2025.
Bonds has also launched a pride range in time for Sydney World Pride 2023.
The Bonds Pride collection was designed in collaboration with Sydney-based LGBTQIA+ artist Kris Andrew Small. It includes tees, undies and sleepwear ranging from $14.99 to $41.99RRP.
It will be launched alongside a ‘Proud to be me’ campaign that will appear in street posters, murals, online, social media and at point of sale across Australia. The collection of stills and film will feature people across the LGBTQIA+ community.