Harridan Township Launches Queer Fashion with Kickstarter Campaign

  OAKLAND, CA - 06/21/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Harridan Township, an online department store offering clothes and styles that buck gender norms, officially launched with a Kickstarter campaign today. Harridan Township will start with five departments, some feminine, some masculine, some a mixture. The company’s unique approach to universal sizing will enable any person of any gender to shop anywhere in the store.

Harridan Township was founded by four co-founders: Mary Going, CEO, Lila Fox, Chief Production Officer, Carrie Maultsby, CMO, and Chris Alvaro, Chief Creative Officer.

Going, a serial entrepreneur, is no stranger to the challenges of finding clothes that fit both her body and her aesthetic. In 2008, when California granted equal marriage rights, Mary and her wife Martha were excited to tie the knot. The only problem was Mary, who prefers masculine clothing, had nothing to wear.  Shopping for a wedding suit was unsuccessful as nothing in the men’s department fit her petite frame.

The couple opted to have a custom suit made for Mary. “I had no idea how amazing it would be to wear clothes that fit my body and the way I want to look,” says Going. This experience sparked the idea for her first line of clothing: Saint Harridan, that focused on masculine suits for women and trans men.

“Harridan Township is the natural next step in our evolution,” says Going, “because now we can create this feeling for others.” Going was joined by three other co-founders for the launch of their bigger venture. “I needed more expertise in the way of creative execution, garment manufacturing and marketing. I’m very excited about our team for its ability to get the job done,” Going says while introducing her team.

Harridan Township encompasses Saint Harridan, plus four new lines of clothing. The company created its additional lines after conducting focus groups with trans women, trans men, people who identify as genderqueer and gender fluid, and cis-gendered women who identify as queer.

“But, you don’t have to identify with any of those words to like our clothing,” says Fox, “The super innovative thing we’ve done is to create all new sizing so that anyone can shop in any department. They all use our Universal Sizing model.”

Style Over Labels

The Harridan Township team has been working for the past year to create a new sizing system that does not need to know your sex or gender, but is based on your body’s shape and size. “Once you really study the shape and size of people’s bodies, it turns out that knowing a person’s sex is not all that useful as a data point,” says Chris Alvaro, Harridan Township’s Creative Director. Alvaro holds a PhD from UC Berkeley in Molecular Biology, but found a passion in queer fashion.

Fox, who has more than fifteen years experience in garment production at Levi’s and The Gap, worked with Going, Maultsby and Alvaro to create this new sizing system. “No longer will people be restricted to which department they can shop in,” says Fox.

The first five lines will be a reflection of the diversity and creativity that Harridan Township will bring to fashion. Mr. Mary is a more feminine line of suits, Crow & King is casual streetwear, and Button Row is feminine dresses.

The fifth clothing line, Love Jeffrey, was created with guest designer Jeffrey Marsh, the popular online personality, public speaker, youth advocate and author of the forthcoming book, “How To Be You.”

“Having guest designers will allow us to work with different aesthetics, and different ideas, furthering the message that you really are free to be you,” says Alvaro, and adds, “Working with Jeffrey has been great!”

Free to Be

Harridan Township is on a mission to allow people the freedom to be who they are no matter how they identify. This makes Harridan Township an innovator in how fashion will be designed, marketed and sold. Fashion needs a fresh new perspective and Harridan Township is leading the charge to allow anyone the freedom to be who they want to be and look how they want to look!

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About Harridan Township

Harridan Township is a new kind of online department store. We want to change the way you access your personal style. We have worked for the past year to create a new sizing system that does not need to know your sex or gender, but is based on your body’s shape and size. Any person of any gender can shop anywhere in our store. Visit our website to learn more: http://www.harridantownship.com/ #StyleOverLabels #FreeToBe