Celebrating Trans Men: Inside Our Latest Photoshoot

Trans men are often left behind.

The public conversation about trans rights tends to centre on trans women. The visibility, the representation, the campaigns that get coverage.

Trans women face their own struggles and deserve every bit of the attention they get. But it does mean that trans men, non-binary people on the transmasc spectrum, and anyone who binds or packs, can end up feeling like the conversation isn't really about them.

This shoot was about them.

I'm Robyn Electra, and through my work with trans and non-binary people I've spent a lot of time around the edges of that gap. This shoot is our attempt to close some of it. Six models, one studio in Liverpool, a long day in front of the camera, and a campaign that says, plainly, that this part of our community deserves to be seen.

Putting trans men in the frame

Two reasons, really.

Trans men are too often missing from the conversation about trans visibility. The same systems that exclude trans women also exclude trans men, just less visibly. Society pays more attention to one than the other.

We wanted to push back on that, quietly, with a campaign that says: these are the people we make our products for. Look at them properly.

The second is geography. Bond and Binder is up north. Liverpool, with reach into Manchester and the rest of the region.

Trans brands in this space tend to be London-based or American. As far as I can see, we're the only trans brand operating up here doing what we do, and that matters more than people realise. The trans community in the north exists, lives full lives, and deserves products and representation that recognise the region they're in.

This was our second story-led campaign. The first one introduced the brand. This one is about the people who actually wear what we make.

Meet our models

Six trans and non-binary models, each one chosen because of who they are and the work they do in the community. You can find them on Instagram at @hazeyherbivore, @oj_tank, @kellanxiaoguang, @theapplauseplause, @kai_mcdonald96 and @blake.ab02.

These weren't agency hires. Most of them I already knew through Trans Celebration's trans sports and fitness sessions: the climbing nights, the gym groups, the spaces we run for trans and non-binary people to be active without feeling watched.

They came to us with personalities, with their own stories, and with their own commitment to trans rights and visibility.

That mattered to us. We didn't want a shoot that looked like every other brand shoot. We wanted the people on camera to actually be part of the community we serve. They are.

The shoot

The full range of chest binders, in all the colourways we currently stock. The Magic Max in orange and blue. The Corset Binder in black and white. The Two-Sided Compression Top in black and coffee.

All worn by the people we make them for, on the bodies we make them for.

Plus new colourways of our packing underwear. The grey and burgundy have been our staples since launch. From now, we also have them in black and green.

Black because people have been asking for it, and green because it photographs warm and reads as something genuinely different. Both colours have been a long time coming.

If you'd like a deeper look at the binder range and how to pick between the different types, our guide to the seven types of chest binders covers what we make and how to choose between them.

The day itself

Vessel Studios in Liverpool, photographed by Nick BL Photography.

The shoot ran for around five hours on the 4th of April. It was a lot of fun.

The energy was much more "friends collaborating" than "professional shoot." Models posed with each other, took selfies between setups, swapped stories about their work and their communities, chatted about who they were before they were on this side of the camera. A lot of laughing. A lot of warmth in the room.

We also filmed plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, some of which has already been going up on our Instagram and some of which will end up supporting product pages on the site over the coming weeks. The brief going in was intentional, fun, edgy. Looking back through the images, I think we got there.

This shoot was also a collaboration with Gaff and Go, the tucking lingerie brand I run, and with the wider work of Trans Celebration and Trans Sports and Fitness. The trans community looks after itself when we work together. That's worth saying out loud.

What's next?

New product imagery from this shoot is going up across the binders and packing underwear collections over the coming weeks. Behind-the-scenes content and model spotlights are rolling out on our Instagram at @bondandbinder. Keep an eye out.

If you're new here, the easiest places to start are the chest binders collection and the packing underwear collection. Our FAQs cover sizing and care, and you can always get in touch if you'd rather just ask.

To everyone who was in front of the camera, thank you. To Nick, thank you. To Trans Celebration and Trans Sports and Fitness for the community that brought half of this together, thank you. Trans men deserve to be seen, and we hope this is one small contribution to making sure they are.