Business

Online store addressing gap in market for rainbow community

13:40 pm on 11 October 2021

Transgender and non-binary New Zealanders can find it difficult to buy the products that enable them to feel more comfortable in their bodies.

Agnes & Edie - an online store based in Taupō - is working to rectify this. 

A model in a chest binder from Taupo-based store Agnes & Edie Photo: Agnes & Edie

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Agnes & Edie sells a range of gender-affirming and queer-centric products including chest binders - a stretchy garment that compresses tissue to create a smoother silhouette, owner Margot tells Jesse Mulligan.

Chest binders help reduce body dysphoria for trans and non-binary people who either don't want gender reassignment surgery or are on a years-long waitlist for it, they say.

Agnes & Edie also provide gender affirming accessories, Pride merchandise and queer books.

Selling gender-affirming products has been a cool way to connect with members of New Zealand's transgender community, Margot says, including some really supportive parents.

It's really heart-warming to see how much they want to help their children and how willing they are to learn.

They sometimes "have a bit of a cry" hearing how people's daily lives have been improved by access to gender-affirming products.

"Our community is quite persecuted, even in Aotearoa, which is seen as quite a liberal country.

"Enabling people to feel more comfortable in their bodies and to look in the mirror and see what is in their head reflected back to them is just super fantastic."

Agnes & Edie are fundraising with the sale of tees, caps and totes to manufacture their own chest binders in New Zealand.

​Some of the language in this article has been changed.