Maryland-based designer Marli Washington took issue with the lack of safe and comfortable chest binding options for individuals looking to bind. As a University of the Arts Industrial Design graduate, Marli used his experience in product design and his background in textiles to create accessible, comfortable, and safe binding options designed by trans people for trans people. Being a trans man of color, Marli found that most chest binders were uncomfortable or inadequate compression shirts designed for cisgender men. Further, it was challenging to find binders that matched a variety of skin tones. So, in 2015, Marli founded gc2b, producing binders that were the first garments designed and explicitly patented for gender-affirming chest binding. Marli created the first line of “nude” binders in five different skin tones. Further, gc2b’s carries a variety of binder sizes ranging from XS to 5XL to ensure access to binding for all bodies.
Marli working on binder prototypes.
Marli on Design, Identity, Self-care, and Joy
Design Thinking Applied to the Body and Identity
In this conversation, recorded on April 29, 2022, as part of CoDesign Collaborative Week, contributors of the upcoming book, We Design: People. Practice. Progress discuss how their identities have influenced their work and lives, self-care, and joy. Moderated by J.R. Uretsky, Exhibition Manager, CoDesign Everywhere, panelists are Bakari Akinyele, Strategist, Designer, and Visual Artist; Leila Mitchell, Founder, LLM Design and Content Editor, We Design; and Marli Washington, Founder of gc2b.
Marli and his team at the Trans Wellness Conference.
Over the past three years, gc2b’s mission has evolved from a brand that offers stylish, original, and gender-affirming apparel to a fixture in the LGBTQAI+ movement. Today gc2b has incorporated a philanthropic arm to the company called 2b.care which actively donates to LGBTQAI+ organizations. Through the 2b.care program, Marli’s company has donated over 6,000 chest binders to people in need.
Further, gc2b collaborates with local and global organizations committed to positive change for trans and non-binary individuals, ensuring that all people have access to comfortable, fashion-forward clothing that celebrates and affirms their gender presentation.
