hi I'm heather! welcome! I'm a designer and illustrator living in philly :)

playwear: a gender inclusive clothing line

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, there are people who 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 the 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.

I also reached out to 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.

In my own personal research the last few months, I thoroughly researched neurodiversity and autism, as I am neurodivergent myself. I was fascinated learning about the spectrum of the 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

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 find 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’ kid! 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 the 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 name for playwear, I was inspired by the 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.

Final Logo

For the logomark, I choose a set of smiling, happy overalls in a bright, vibrant blue for the brand. The logotype would be in a bright red, in a fun bouncy arrangement to once again 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.

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!

Clothing

The clothing line is bright, fun, playful, and gender-inclusive.

The hoodie design utilize patterns made out of the 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 tag 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.