Carmen Liu, a London-based designer, has launched the world's first underwear collection for transgender children.
The Girl Flower Collection was created specifically for trans girls who feel that their sex does not align with their gender identity. It is currently still in the production stage.
Liu, a 27-year-old transgender woman, admits that although she never had the chance to experience her childhood as her authentic self, she has a lot of pride in the fact that she can play a small part in ensuring a younger generation of trans kids feel validated and included.
"From the beginning, an underwear line for trans kids was one of the first and more important products I wanted to design and launch," Liu tells Metro.co.uk. "Unfortunately, I never lived my childhood as my true gender and this is something I can never get back."
She continues: "For me, to be able to provide the world’s first underwear line for the rapidly increasing amount of trans kids globally, is my way of helping them avoid losing their childhood as their true gender. Not only do I aim to provide trans-specific products for kids, but I will also increase the needed awareness of the ever-increasing problems for trans children and their families.
"I am already doing just this for trans women worldwide and now it’s necessary for me to expand my experience to trans children."
This trans girl started transitioning at nine-years-old:Liu believes the collection will help ease symptoms of gender dysphoria that many transgender children suffer with. For those unaware, gender dysphoria refers to the feeling of distress one might feel as a result of a perceived mismatch between their biological sex and their gender.
"I have designed the kids' underwear line with cotton and mesh fabrics, the designs differ from current kids underwear available on the market as they allow for a greater hold and support for the lower body parts and are designed specifically for the needs of trans children," Liu adds.
Earlier this year, the 27-year-old launched Carmen Liu Lingerie, the UK’s first lingerie brand for trans women who have not had genital surgery. However, her newer children's line allowed the designer to venture into unchartered territory.
"The design does differ from my trans women’s line, where full tucking is needed, this is because it is not safe for children at a young age to be tucking fully," Liu explains. "I know there are a lot of people who are yet to understand why trans-specific products are necessary, I know that some of this is due to lack of information."
"One thing I always say to first help people is that trans girls and women have an additional body part that needs concealing. Cis-lingerie/underwear does not solve our issues, lingerie/underwear is a basic human need which our community does not have access to."
If you know of any children who could benefit from this brand new underwear collection, it will be released on the GI Collection website this autumn.
