Gendered clothing is gradually becoming a thing of the past as celebrities, influencers and your next door neighbour are actively fighting against a patriarchal society full of bias expectations.
A young Nottingham artist is tackling these divisive norms by expressing her designs through non-gendered clothing, including launching a Valentines collection inclusive of all, even those without a partner to share the day with.
The love themed collection will be running until the end of February including the companies three signature designs: The Baddie, Goddess and Logo.
Not only can you bag yourself a t-shirt or jumper from the collection, but Rachel Pride also offers custom pieces where you can choose the design, colour and how many prints you would like for your original piece of clothing.
Rachel, 21, from Stapleford, launched Pridesigns in August 2020, releasing her first collection and designs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said: “Lockdown gave me time to experiment and is the whole reason I started my business…I wish I could market in person but it’s all stuff to come in the future.”
The brands name, ‘Pridesigns’, not only incorporates the artists surname, but has an important message about liberation and being inclusive.
Rachel, a furloughed bartender, added: “I never thought clothes have a gender, it’s an inanimate object, you can’t say a mirror or lightbulb has a gender so why clothes?”
The brand’s new Valentines collection focuses on the individual and finding love within themselves instead of through partners to add to their mantra of inclusivity.
Rachel said: “My favourite design in this collection is the strip print. The single line represents being single, like one entity.”
When asked about the theme of her designs and the individuality of each, Rachel explained how the accentuated features of each design came from a dream.
All of her designs came to her in moments of spontaneity by drawing what she saw in a dream, “showing off” to someone on a first date, and aiming for a “one hit wonder” by drawing straight onto linoleum (the product she carves into to create the prints).
“In my dream I saw what you might call ‘simplistic people’ with big ears and features, I woke up and drew what I saw and then kept going with those designs which built my brand”, she said.
The printing process is completely by hand including finishing touches being done with a fine paintbrush at the end to make sure every customer is satisfied with the quality of their designs.
Be sure to support a local artist by checking out Rachel’s new collection on instagram @pridesigns_ or via the website here.
By Lauren Brown
