Bristol’s first gender neutral fashion brand

MAX TARIQ pride themselves as Bristol’s first gender neutral clothing brand. Founder and designer Jo-Jo Cowley, who established the fashion brand at the beginning of 2018, believes that gender should no longer take control of an individual’s style and that fashion should be celebrated by all.

“I always wanted to create a clothing brand that would make a difference and a change in our world,” says Jo-Jo. “In fashion, clothing is usually made for just one gender, either male or female. People now identify beyond these two genders.

“I’m from Sea Mills and Bristol has always been my home. We should be proud to live in a place with such diversity,” continues Jo-Jo. “I still feel there needs to be more of a push within the Bristol fashion scene towards diversity but hopefully my brand will make people think more”.

The Equal T-shirt from the NO LABELS collection (£24) and the Pink Spray logo hoodie (£28) both by MAX TARIQ

The range itself consists of organic T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps and phone cases that feature contemporary, gender neutral prints from hearts, statement words that include ‘No Labels’ and ‘Me’ and various plays on the Pride rainbow imagery. The MAX TARIQ logo itself is a twist on the classic symbols for male and female. The prices range from a very reasonable £15 for T-shirts to £30 for a hoodie.

Gender neutral clothing is not to be mixed up with the unisex label, which has long been thrown about as an inclusive idea, more recently with high street brands like Zara, River Island and H&M all having a stab at it. Unisex means that while certain items are available to either men or women to wear, it is still non-inclusive to people who identify as ‘none of the above’.

The Pride T-shirt from the Rainbow collection (£18) and the limited-edition Injected T-shirt (£20)

“To me, gender neutral means allowing individuals the freedom to be more expressive and not be put into categories or labelled,” Jo-Jo says. “I feel the more our society becomes acceptive of people’s differences and the way they identify themselves, our world will become a better place. People will feel less pressure about what they are and focus more on the importance of who they are.”

Gender neutral brands are not just aimed at non-binary people, but are making a change for us all as we move into a more diverse and equal world. Gender neutral clothing helps bridge the gap for people who want to wear what they like, and is inclusive to everyone.

The Pride T-shirt (£15) and rainbow palm tree T-shirt (£16) both from the Rainbow collection

We are not quite at the point where there are whole gender-neutral collections that include skirts and dresses on the high street, but to get the initial idea into consumers’ heads is a step in the right direction.

“Many large retail brands have run campaigns for Pride season, produced unisex lines and are selling gender neutral children’s clothes. However, a lot of the time these are still aimed at a certain group of people,” Jo-Jo says.

“MAX TARIQ’s main focus is to make fashion for all. I feel we are most certainly moving in the right direction but we still have a long way to go. Looking to the future, I hope within the next ten years, male and female sections are removed from both online and high street stores. Everyone should be able to wear anything.”

Bringing the colour into gender neutral garms are the Pink Rainbow Triangle Sweatshirt (£30) and the Yellow Pride T-shirt (£18)

So, is it just labelling things that has always been the problem?  MAX TARIQ have a theory on this with their NO LABELS collection: “People are too often categorised or labelled as a certain type of person. This can be because of many factors ranging from race to sexuality, and when this happens it can have a variety of emotional impacts on people.

“I want to share the message that people don’t need to be labelled. It’s time we celebrated people’s differences instead of pinning them into a category.”

Gender neutral accessories including the NO LABELS cap (£25) and the LOVE iPhone case (£15)

So, is there a future for gender neutral clothing shops when T-shirts and streetwear garments always been a bit gender neutral? How can brands like MAX TARIQ really set themselves apart and make a difference?

“As the brand grows and expands so will the garments people can buy,” says Jo-Jo. “I hope eventually you will be able to purchase everything from MAX TARIQ including jeans, jumpsuits, underwear and accessories. Everyone has very different body shapes and we are all completely unique, therefore it makes it difficult to work out how certain items would fit everyone. This is what I want to explore more and I am very excited to see what happens.

“This is only the very beginning. The more people who support the brand, the more interesting the brand will become. And, most importantly, customers will be helping to contribute in making a change in our world.”

Find out more about NO LABELS on the MAX TARIQ blog and visit www.maxtariq.com to see the whole collection.

Follow our Fashion Editor Emma’s blog No Debutante