Symmetry, the genderless fashion brand

Symmetry is a sustainable and genderless fashion brands that offers clothes wearable by anybody no matter their gender.

In France (and actually all around the globe), fashion is still ruled by gender stereotypes: men should wear sober and dark clothes whereas women should wear colourful and bright clothes. These stereotypes are quite strong and unjustified, as many studies showed. For instance, one study from the CNRS (a French public research organization) showed that tee-shirts with messages have messages mostly about love and emotions for women, and about adventure for men, which is implies that women are fragile whereas men do not get the right to show their emotions.

This is not normal and more and more denounced, especially by young people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Indeed, people are now raising questions about gender identity, transgender and non-binary people seek to show they exist and that they should be allowed to express their true gender and even cisgender people want to show that any kind of masculinity and femininity is valid.

According to another study, made by Ifop in 2020, 22% of French people between 18 and 30 years old say they do not belong in both categories “men/women” in clothing shops. And according to a study I personally lead in 2021 (401 answers), 55% of women have already bought and worn at least one piece of clothes from the male department because they do not feel comfortable with the female offer.

Therefore, fashion is full of gender stereotypes and people cannot fully express themselves nor their identities through it. However, all these stereotypes have larger consequences that cannot really be measured (it strengthen the sexist principles of the society, it leads to a feeling of loneliness and rejection among LGBTQIA+ people and even to their suicide sometimes, etc…).

That is why the fashion industry must change. This change already began with many celebrities pushing gender boundaries (for instance with Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of the US Vogue magazine, Billy Porter with a “smoking-dress” on a red carpet, or in France with Bilal Hassani daring to wear high heels, wigs and make-up even though he identifies as a man).

Besides gender stereotypes, another important issue of the fashion industry is its impact on climate. According to the ADEME (the French public organization specialized on climate change, its causes and its consequences), fashion is one of the most polluting industries by emitting about 4 billion tons of CO2 equivalent each year in the world, and the third most water-consuming industry in the world. This impact is mainly due to the production of textile fibres which consumes a lot of water, and the production of clothes that is usually done in South Asian countries like Bangladesh or China, where power works with coal, the most polluting kind of fossil fuel.

My solution is Symmetry, a new fashion brand that offers sustainable and genderless clothes.

To do so, I work with a Parisian workshop and upcycled fibres to prototype our first pieces of clothes. Power in France is decarbonated (nuclear power) and there is a true know-how about textile so working with a Parisian workshop is enable me to highly reduce the environmental impact of Symmetry’s products. With this workshop’s team, we are currently looking for how we can make really genderless clothes despite the morphology differences between male and female bodies. We are particularly working on prototyping stretch material that could help solve this problem.

Doing so, the brand would offer clothes without male or female categories and would redefine the size system, so that anybody can buy and wear the clothes they want whatever their morphology is, whatever their style is and, above all, whatever their gender is.

Furthermore, the style of this fashion brand is really important to convey this message of inclusion for all genders. That is why we (a designer I recently met and I) have created a brand identity around it: we want to offer both extravagant and elegant clothes. Indeed, extravagance is a way for people to express themselves and to push the boundaries of gender, whereas elegance is a way for them to feel confident in their clothes, to feel beautiful, which is very important for anybody that wants to be comfortable with their uniqueness.

In order to understand who needed this solution and how they needed it, I lead a study in January 2021 when I asked 401 people about their shopping habits and their relationship with gender, especially in fashion. Thanks to this study, I learnt that women are more unsatisfied with the female offer in fashion (because of gender stereotypes regarding the style of the clothes or the sizes) and more likely to go buy their clothes in the male department: 55% of women have already bought and worn at least one piece of clothes from the male department.

I also learnt that people under 35 years old are very much sensitive to gender-identity issues as well as ecological issues: 73% of them are willing to pay more for a sustainable product and 50% of them are willing to pay more for a genderless piece of clothes.

Thus, I realized that women from 20 to 35 years old were the most likely to be interested in this solution.

Furthermore, the LGBTQIA+ community is a very important target population for my project. It is illegal to get statistics about sexual orientation in France so I cannot provide many figures about it, but after interviewing many people from this community (beside myself), I know they are looking for more inclusion in fashion and in the entire society, for acknowledgment, and for the possibility to express themselves. This is why my project is especially made for these people even though they are not my only target.

Thus, I have made two personas for my project. The first one is Valentin, a 25-year-old manager who recently graduated from a business school. His wage is high enough to buy clothes in line with his values: tolerance and ecology. He is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and he is looking for original clothes enable him to express its creativity without feeling judged by the society nor the brand itself. He also wants to get traceability and transparency for the clothes he buy in order to know what their social and environmental impacts are. We named the second persona Florence, a 35-year-old manager who suffers from sexism at work. She often buy her clothes in the male department in stores but she wants to get elegant clothes that fits her morphology more. She also wants to get more creative clothes out of work.

For all these people, one solution have already been offered: unisex fashion. This is a good step forward, but it is also criticized for several reasons. Unisex clothes are basically one piece of clothes for everybody. To be wearable by anybody, they usually have a unique large morphology, which often implies a basic and/or streetwear style (hoodies, tee-shirts, sports pants…). Basically, unisex brands have tried to make genderless clothes by offering to women the possibility to wear clothes offered to men, which is good but only one small part of the problem. However, not everyone likes this style, and the offer is limited. By adapting the clothes to people (through stretch material) and offering a more diverse, extravagant and elegant style, Symmetry aims at making really genderless clothes.

Thanks to Symmetry, these people will be able to wear these clothes and feel fully themselves in them, with all the confidence that it needs. It will also have a gigantic impact in terms of communication, because other people who do not dare to push boundaries could be encouraged to do so or at least feel less alone just by seeing people wearing and promoting this kind of clothes, particularly on social media.

I personally feel very concerned by this project. I first had this idea 6 years ago, at a time when I, as a young feminine boy who is uncomfortable with his sexuality and his identity, tried to understand who I was through new clothes. I went to shopping stores and I wanted a particular pair of jeans that was a bit shiny. Because of that shine, this piece’s brand put it in the female department, but I bought it anyway. It was the first time I pushed the gender boundaries in a shop and I felt both frustrated and proud, because I was brave enough to push these boundaries but I felt this was about my gender identity and not marketing. I already knew at that time that the brand should not get to have an opinion about how I should dress as a man.

Afterwards, I chose to do business studies that could help me achieve this project, so I went to a preparatory class and then entered the second-best business school in France: ESSEC Business School. There, I have learnt many things about how to create a company, how to run it, and even more how to make it impact-driven thanks to the “Social Innovation Chair” I was part last year. This was also an opportunity for me to get to know other people who had experienced the same kind of issues in order to get as many diverse opinions as possible. Therefore, I could work on my project, change it, correct it, make it fit more with my whole target.

I am alone on this project but, as I said earlier, I was recently joined by Belchior, a Brazilian designer who shares my ideas on genderless fashion and occasionally help me go further in our project through great designs and a new vision. Since he has other professional projects, Belchior is not fully part of the team, but he is definitely a great supporter and helped me a lot in my journey. We get along very well and have complementary skills, which makes the work so easy to do.

As I said earlier, my first step to understand the needs of the people I want to help was the study I lead in January 2021. After this study, I had a much more precise idea of who these people were and what they needed: a more diverse offer in fashion that could help them express their identities and feel they belong in the society. Then, I have done a lot of research about more global issues on gender (and ecology) in fashion, in order to have a complete vision of this issue globally.

Afterwards, I have done some research to identify my competitors, what they offered, why it was a good or a bad solution for people, in order to understand how I could bring something new. I also met a couple of my competitors (entrepreneurs like me but with more experience and an already on-going business) so I could know why they had these projects and what they were doing in details.

Now, I am focusing on my own community and potential users. I recently (September 2022) created an Instagram account, @la_mode_symetrique (feel free to look for it!), where I make posts about gender, climate change, fashion, etc... This is a very good way for me to gather a community around this project and its values and to get the constant feedback from the potential users. I especially use this account to ask them about material they could like the most for example. This account is also a first way for me to raise awareness around these issues and to have an impact on the society.

Symmetry is innovative for two reasons. First, it differs from the traditional brands that separate male and female styles (still the majority of the fashion offer in France and around the globe) by offering the possibility to explore gender with a piece of clothes allowed to both men and women (and everything in between). Second, it differs from the unisex offer (which is limited as I said earlier) by not offering only one morphology for everybody but by adapting each piece of clothes to the consumers through stretch material and design, as well as its uncommon designs that is far from the basic style promoted by unisex fashion.

I expect Symmetry to contribute to a global change of the fashion market. Obviously, as a start-up, the sales of Symmetry will not be huge and will not affect the whole market in themselves. However, it is clearly the necessary first step that definitely will change everything, because each brand, through its image, has the power to be inspirational and to change people’s mindsets and I expect Symmetry to do so. As we all can see now, the industry and the expectations of consumers are changing rapidly. With an example of brand that solves this issue in the best way possible, other brands could not only get inspired but also be forced to change their models because this will become the norm.

I have three goals for 2023. The first one is to grow our community on Instagram in order to raise awareness among more and more people (objective of 1000 followers by the end of 2023). My posts are more and more precise and complete thanks to the research I do, which is obviously good for me and my projects because I am becoming an expert on gender, ecology and issues linked to these topics in fashion, but it is even greater for my community who learn many things about these topics and how they can personally have an impact. For example, I give them some tips to get a more sustainable consumption in fashion, or I inform them about LGBTQIA+ conditions and rights, or even about gender-inequality aspects they might not know.

Second, I plan on having the two first pieces of clothes of Symmetry, a jumpsuit and a coat, fully prototyped (after some people of the community tried them so I know it really solves the problem) by the end of the year. My designer and I almost finished the designs and started to work with a Parisian workshop that has a big expertise in prototyping new clothes. This collaboration will be our main challenge to really understand how we can make this solution work in a concrete way.

Finally, my third goal for Symmetry is to have a first concrete impact on about a hundred clients with our first sales through a crowdfunding at the end of 2023. This phase will be essential for Symmetry because it will be the proof of concept that shows that this product works, and that the community supports this idea and feels concerned enough to really get involved in the project. It will also be a crucial moment to receive many feedbacks on the product in order to know how I can make it have an even bigger impact thanks to the fundings I will receive with the sales.

Our solution is reinventing the way to design clothes: pattern making, prototyping, producing… The idea is to create a piece of clothes that fits to anyone no matter what their gender is. To do so, we are working on several aspects of the design: the materials, the definition of the sizes, the cutting of the patterns… Each of these aspects is not sufficient alone to solve the problem, but I believe I can use a combination of them all to make it work.

For example, some materials are very stretchy compared to other ones (especially velvet mesh that is what we use the most for now). The material is stretchy in only one direction, so it can enable the clothes to fit whether for smaller/taller bodies, or for thinner/bigger bodies, but it cannot do it for these two dimensions. So, this cannot in itself enable to create a piece of clothes that fits to any morphology, but it definitely can if we combine it with a new definition of sizes and cutting of the patterns, by identifying the parts of the body that differ the most from one another. We can imagine for instance a material very stretchy used for the thickness of the bodies, and then a definition of sizes focused only on the “highness” of it, so the two dimensions are covered. Note that the prototyping is not over yet so I cannot explain exactly how this technology will work yet.

This technology is definitely more complex than the over-standardized technologies currently used in the textile industry, and therefore, it is obviously more expensive. However, it is something that will change the production process for the clothing industry, and it just needs some R&D and good expertise to upgrade already existing technologies.

In terms of products, the solution does not serve anybody now since the products have not been fully prototyped. I expect it to be by the end of 2023 and, at that time, I plan on serving about 100 people.

More indirectly, in terms of raising awareness around gender issues in fashion, for now my solution serves around 400 people (number of followers on Instagram). I expect this number to rise up to 1 000 people by the end of 2023.

I think the main barrier for me is financial, first because I am still a student without a revenue and second because this project is very costly. For example, for all the prototyping of the first two pieces of clothes with the workshop (production excluded), it will cost me around 20.000 euros. I am currently starting to look for financial support so that I can be able to make the investments I need for this project (design, production, promotion and distribution).

Furthermore, as I said, the solution is mainly about the technology challenge of redefining standards in the textile industry and make really genderless clothes. This has not been done before even though there is some progress so leading such an innovative process is a bit of a challenge.

Finally, a big barrier for me is obviously a cultural one, as the mindsets about gender are changing but not as fast as it could. A big part of my job is to raise awareness, through my community on LinkedIn and Instagram, about these issues and to show they are important. However, I believe the society now is ready for this kind of change in the fashion industry but the only thing that could prove that is the success of the brand itself.

I have two main partnerships. The first one is the workshop I work with for the prototyping. It is called L'Atelier Coco&Rico and we started our collaboration a couple months ago. For now we just agreed on everything we will do in the following months but the process has been stopped for a few months since I am abroad for my studies (exchange program in Norway), which make it impossible to me to give them directives on prototyping.

I also plan to work with Coco&Rico for the production phase (after prototyping) and we already discussed that I could get access to their data in terms of material-sourcing for this phase.

Our second partnership is with Uptrade, a French start-up that looks for materials that can be upcycled. I have a close relation with them and they sometimes help me by offering me some tips on what stretchy material they received and I could work with. They are the ones who talked to me about velvet mesh for example.

My business model is a classic business model for a fashion brand. Symmetry takes care of the design, the promotion and the distribution of the products, whereas the production will be taken care of by a workshop (Coco&Rico). This will ask many resources, especially in a financial way, as I plan to use outdoor communication to promote the brand (which is very efficient for such a visual product like clothes but also very expensive), and to do all our products “Made in France” (which shows high quality in the fashion industry but is also very expensive again). For example, all our costs for the year 1 of Symmetry (2024) will be about 300.000 euros.

That is why Symmetry’s products will be high-end, with a range of prices from 150 euros to 250 euros. The main products of Symmetry will be a jumpsuit and a coat. One the one hand, a jumpsuit is a very interesting product because it is usually put in the female department whereas it has no reason to be (men deserve to be elegant too!), and it could be easily worn by men (and non-binary people). On the other hand, a coat is a very elegant piece that can be made more extravagant without too many difficulties dealing with morphologies.

These products will be distributed online only in the beginning. I plan to open a first physical store on year 3 of the project (2026), which will highly grow its impact since it will give the opportunity to anybody to try the products themselves directly in the store.

I expect to sell 1.200 pieces of clothes in 2024 and get more of 200.000 euros of revenue. Obviously this is not necessary to be profitable (costs of 300.000 euros in year 1). That is why I will need other kinds of fundings. For this kind of projects (not numerical project), the best way to find money are the debt and business angels, so I plan to get about 200.000 euros of debt and a 150.000-euro funding from a business angel. I will also bring my own resources in the project: about 10.000 euros.

The revenue of the brand will rapidly grow in the following years and reach more than 1.5 million euros in 2028. While the revenue is growing, the company will benefit from economies of scale since the activity will grow as well (opening of a physical shop in 2026, employment of 10 people within 5 years). Therefore, I expect Symmetry to be profitable by 2027.