It was 11 p.m. the night before Conner Ives’s runway show. The designer and his small team were holed up in his London studio, where several unfinished garments still needed their attention. Time was of the essence.
But Ives had something he wanted to get off his chest. Or, rather, put on it.
The 28-year-old fished out a white T-shirt from a box of deadstock, grabbed some transfer paper, and within 15 minutes had made himself a shirt that read, “PROTECT THE DOLLS.”
The “dolls” he was referring to were trans women. “It was a phrase that felt very familiar, and it felt very approachable,” Ives said. “And it felt very topical as well, being from a country that is ripping apart these people’s rights in front of our eyes.” (Ives is based in London but grew up in New York.)
The next night, Ives wore the shirt when he took his bow. His collection was well-received. But his T-shirt became a sensation.
“I didn’t really think about selling it until we woke up the next morning and we were 400 emails deep of people being like, ‘Where do I buy this?’” Ives said.
Since that runway show on Feb. 23, Ives has received more than 2,500 orders for the shirt costing 75 pounds ($99), with all proceeds going to the community care organization Trans Lifeline.
Last weekend, Troye Sivan wore the shirt during his set at Coachella and in a photo he posted to Instagram, standing beside Lorde, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish.
Pedro Pascal – who had recently opted for a different T-shirt in support of the trans community for an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” – was snapped in a “Protect the Dolls” tee next to the DJ Honey Dijon. Fashion designer Haider Ackermann posed in the Ives design with Tilda Swinton. Swinton ordered several shirts herself.
The idea to end his runway show in a bespoke T-shirt of his own design came from Alexander McQueen. The late designer ended his Spring/Summer 2006 runway show by tugging at a shirt that read, “We Love You Kate.” At the time, his friend and collaborator Kate Moss was being dragged in the press after photos allegedly showing her using cocaine were published in British tabloids.
“I just loved the gesture of it and the conviction with it,” Ives said.
Over the years, the slogan tee has repeatedly popped up on runways. Prabal Gurung dressed his models in white shirts with political slogans for his Fall 2017 collection, taking his bow in a “This is what a feminist looks like” tee. In February at New York Fashion Week, Patricio Campillo ended his Campillo runway show wearing a shirt that said, “El Golfo de Mexico.”
On the other end of the political spectrum, Ye showed up at his runway show in 2022 on the arm of far-right commentator Candace Owens, both wearing complementary black and white long-sleeved T-shirts with “White Lives Matters” written on the back, a stunt that effectively tanked his mainstream fashion career.
So what is it about “PROTECT THE DOLLS” that has struck a nerve today? The design is clean and simple: left justified, capitalized, the serif of its Big Caslon font projecting directness and authority.
When spoken aloud, it rolls off the tongue; English nerds might notice that “protect the dolls” is written in iambic dimeter.
And there is the phrase itself: “the dolls.” It’s a term for trans women that is ubiquitous in some LGBTQ circles but not fully known by the mainstream (yet).
“It was familiar, and it was a way that I would talk with my friends, even if there wasn’t a political statement behind it,” Ives said. “It felt quite to the point.”
Calling someone a “doll” is endearing. It implies familiarity, deep affection, a sense of attachment and protection.
Could it also imply a fixation on physical appearance? Or plasticity? Or collectability?
“I want to have those conversations,” Ives said. “I think that’s really up to the interpreter to decide.”
Hunter Pifer, a model who opened Ives’s most recent show, was getting fitted in the studio when Ives was still batting around other slogans like “For the dolls” or “We heart the dolls.” But when Pifer heard “Protect the dolls,” she knew it was the one.
“I was like ‘Protect the dolls,’ immediately, that’s it, no ifs, ands or buts, that’s going to be it,” she said.
Pifer met Ives in 2023 after he came recommended by fellow trans models Alex Consani and Colin Jones. Pifer and Ives became fast friends and regular collaborators.
Pifer shrugged off concerns about the word “doll.” “It’s nice to be a little bit sly when we’re out and about and having a conversation and don’t necessarily want to out ourselves,” she said.
But she also doesn’t mind that the term is going a bit more mainstream. “Everybody wants to play with the dolls now,” she said. “It’s very nice that everybody’s getting in on it.”
Well, not everybody. On Wednesday, April 16, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that trans women were excluded from the protections of the 2010 Equality Act on the grounds that they didn’t meet the definition of “women.”
News like this won’t stop Ives. The first two drops of the T-shirts – nearly 2,000 – sold out. He’s now doing another round of pre-sales that he plans to keep open indefinitely.
“We’ll keep doing this until everybody has their T-shirt,” Ives said.
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