We recently connected with Mere Abrams and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mere thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

We call ourselves a brand for the human being, and as such, we set out to create a fashion company where gender diversity is humanized and celebrated. Our goal is always to make the wearing of gender-affirming underwear and clothing feel fashionable and to create a shopping experience that allows people to feel seen and held instead of fetishized or medicalized. In the past, gender-affirming garments were predominantly DIY projects, products of medical companies, or found in s*x shops.

As a trans & nonbinary person, I experienced the negative impact of the fashion industry’s outdated norms and practices, which typically operate under a binary understanding of bodies and genders. When I started binding my chest in 2013, the existing options for gender-affirming garments were limited. They failed to address the diverse needs of body shapes and types across the gender spectrum and did not account for different occasions. This lack of access to gender-affirming garments can exacerbate gender dysphoria, impact mental health, and diminish overall quality of life. Access issues can also contribute to the instances of harassment, discrimination, and violence faced by many trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals, particularly Black and Brown trans women. At Urbody, we view gender-affirming garments as extensions of trans healthcare and essential tools for achieving gender congruence, embodiment, and safely navigating the world with bodily autonomy.

The exclusionary industry standards in the fashion world played a significant role in inspiring Urbody. We observed numerous brands marketing their products in ways that left trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals feeling unrepresented and unserved. Among the few brands that did cater to this community, there was not always a prioritization of the wearer’s health when it came to functional and compressive garments. We demonstrate our dedication to gender inclusivity, gender diversity, and empowering the LGBTQ+ community, through tailored, health-conscious fit solutions for trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people, which sets us apart and positions us to be the brand that expands industry standards.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Urbody utilizes a health-informed framework to design solution-oriented garments that promote positive body esteem, gender affirmation, and self-expression. We serve the entire gender spectrum and have created fit templates tailored to the bodies and needs of all human beings, including trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals. We have firsthand experience with the struggles of finding base layers that simultaneously allow people to express themselves and fit their bodies. We work closely with the community to ensure that each of our styles is infused with features that account for their needs and experiences. We believe that everyone deserves to get dressed with confidence, starting with what’s underneath.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My co-founder and I are longtime friends. We met during the first week of college, immediately clicked, and have stayed close ever since. In 2019, both of us were in a transitional phase professionally and personally and began having weekly conversations about how the fashion industry could better serve trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The more we spoke, the more we realized how our unique skill sets and backgrounds could be combined to create something incredibly special and impactful. One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were in New York City at a convention, looking for manufacturers who could help us bring our vision of creating a collection of gender-affirming base layers to life.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Our reputation is built on our commitment to being community-driven in everything we do. We surveyed the queer, trans, non-binary, and gender-non-conforming communities pre-launch to inform our product development and have continued to involve community members in our process every step of the way. We are also one of the only brands out there that strives to serve the entire gender spectrum. When we looked at this market, we saw a number of companies focusing on one product or marketing to one specific part of the gender spectrum. We aimed to illuminate the expansiveness of the gender diversity that we see in the world around us. We believe this is both what differentiates us from other companies in the LGBTQIA+ space and has helped us build our reputation in the market. We believe that by fostering a sense of belonging in the world and comfort in your body, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.urbody.co
• Instagram: @urbodyco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/urbody-functional-fashion/