Ellen Degeneres Subverts Gender Norms with New GAP Girls’ Clothing Line

I can’t even handle how much I wish I were a girl young enough to wear the clothes from the GAPKids x ED Collection, a clothing line brought to us by GAP in partnership with Ellen Degeneres. Check out the most awesome ad for a children’s clothing line you’ve ever seen in the video above.

It uses a Le Tigre song. A LE TIGRE SONG. Which, along with the style of many of the clothes being modeled, officially makes this the most subversive and lesbian-tastic girls’ clothing line of all time. What’s great about it is that the line includes styles that will appeal to a wide variety of girls, from the most “tomboyish” to those who like to look “girly,” and everything in between. The messages on the shirts are empowering, and GAP chose to showcase some empowering, inspirational girls to model the clothes: The Pink Helmet Posse: Relz, Ryan, and Bella (ages 6-8), a skateboarding team; Alexey, age 12, an award-winning drummer; Torrae, age 9, a robotic hand builder; and Asia, age 12, a badass entrepreneur.

What strikes me the most about not only this clothing line, but the campaign, is that it feels like they took real girls into account. This isn’t a clothing line that’s pushing clothes that will make a girl, it’s offering clothes that will allow a girl to be who she is already. In a world designed to tell girls and women that they’re Not Enough in any number of ways – and of course, reminding them they’re in need of any number of garments or products to fix themselves, GAPKids x ED is telling girls “we like who you are, and we’re making you clothes that you’ll like.” That’s a great message.

(via Autostraddle)

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