Government grant funds new gender-affirming underwear range and research
In an exclusive interview with Attitude, Zoah founder Danielle St James reveals all about her "fully authentic" underwear brand for the trans masculine community
In late 2023, entrepreneur Danielle St James (pictured below), was awarded a research and development grant from Innovate UK to develop a range of products for her inclusive underwear brand, Zoah – and a year later, is ready to reveal the stylish end result.
St James wanted to use the government grant to better understand the impact that access to the right underwear products can have on making the trans masculine population feel safe and confident as they move through the world.
A subject of increasing importance against the backdrop of hate and intolerance that the trans community has experienced over the past few years. St James’ first-hand experience had informed her existing range for trans women, trans feminine individuals and those that tuck, and her ambition was to extend this to provide the same insight for the rest of the community.
Twelve months on and the range is now live, along with a report which examines the degree to which those who bind and pack feel safe and confident living in the UK. St James’s hope is that the insights have the potential to inform and educate those who need to better understand this underserved population, so they can better support the trans masc community going forward.
Why did you launch Zoah?
Zoah was born out of a need that I had as a trans woman that just wasn’t being met. Underwear for those that tuck was seedy and oversexualised and I just wanted to feel safe and secure when moving about my day. If the products could look cool, as well as comfortable, even better. I have gone on to develop a range of styles and even expanded into bras and swimwear that offer solutions for the community. My focus has always been on creating garments which are functional, but which are, above all, something people actually want to wear. The next stage was always going to be creating similar solutions for trans guys, trans masculine individuals and those that bind and pack. It was just a matter of time – and cash!
How did the binding and packing range come about?
In November last year I was working with a business adviser at Innovate UK, the government’s innovation agency. She told me about a grant and was really optimistic about my chances of qualifying. I was pretty skeptical. The UK government’s not exactly known for supporting the trans community, but she was very persuasive so I applied, laying out my vision for what a line of Zoah products for the trans masculine community would look like.
Were you surprised when you won the grant?
After we completed the application, I sort of forgot about it. I never in a million years thought we’d be successful. I remember last November, coming out of the chiropractor and checking my phone, and the email was there saying we’d secured the maximum amount of £50,000. They had thousands of applicants, and I was one of only a few awarded the grant, and am pretty sure mine were the only undies!
What difference has the grant made?
I always said that if I was ever going to create something for the trans masculine community it would need to be fully authentic. And realistically it would have been a long time coming with all the other plates I have spinning [as well as running Zoah, Dani also has a swimwear brand called Wet Wknd, with Amber Rose Gill of Love Island fame, and she is Chief Exec of trans Charity Not a Phase]. The grant from Innovate UK gave us the focus and the budget to really dig into some of the key issues impacting the trans masculine community, a community which is all too often ignored. We ran focus groups, interviewed people, ran a survey, did endless polls on Instagram and gathered everything into a report on trans masc safety which we published in the hope of raising awareness of the challenges facing this group of people.
What makes these products different?
Comfort has always been at the heart of our products. When I developed the range for trans women and those that tuck, I based the design on what I wanted and needed. When it came to trans guys and those that bind there were already a lot of solutions out on the market, so we focused on listening to what the community wanted. Overheating is a massive issue for people on T so we incorporated sweat-wicking technology into the binder, we also focused on maximum compression without compromising comfort. For the boxer we used bamboo, made sure the seams didn’t cause sensory issues and created two versions. Both allow for the addition of a packer and one has absorbency capability to protect from leaks. The key aim of this project was to listen, and really understand what the market needed and wanted so that we could create something that would resonate with them – that’s why we went to so much effort to really engage with and involve the community at every step along the way.
What was the most interesting thing you learned as part of your research?
I was at the London Stock Exchange event for Lesbian Visibility Week earlier this year and I was chatting to a group of ladies who were asking about Zoah. They were really excited to learn about the work we were doing to develop our new range, as it turns out binding is not only limited to trans masc folk, but also popular among lesbians.