This write-up was part of a larger feature — with additional contributions from by Adwoa Afful, Rosa Boshier, Mallika Khanna, Rachel Charlene Lewis, Marina Watanabe, and Andi Zeisler — published in the Bitch Media FANTASY issue, which hit newsstands in Summer 2020. Carmen wrote on Rebirth Garments.

Rebirth Garments

Bespoke binders. Custom-cut IV shirts. Made-to-order tucking panties. These are the kinds of items Rebirth Garments ships to queer and disabled folks across the country each month—and highlights in fashion shows and campaigns celebrating and centering queer and disabled bodies. Founder Sky Cubacub—who is nonbinary, queer, disabled, and Filipinx—sees the line of gender-nonconforming wearables and accessories as part of a larger “QueerCrip” dress reform movement centered on radical visibility. Their mission is to leverage “bright colors, exuberant fabrics, and innovative designs” to highlight “the parts of us that society typically shuns,” and they weave that revolutionary vision into every handmade piece. “The clothing that I make is centered on people,” Cubacub explains. “Almost all other clothing makers, all big-box stores, are making and designing clothing—and then people are supposed to fit to that. I am doing the exact opposite….I make a lot of these very necessary lifesaving foundation garments for folks so that they can feel good in their skin.”

For Cubacub’s customers, that approach makes a powerful difference. “I’ve had a lot of people cry when they first put on the clothing that I make because they never thought that they could either feel comfortable in clothing or feel affirmed in their clothing; or they never thought that anyone would care that much about how they felt, but also how cute they look at the same time,” Cubacub says. Cubacub makes each Rebirth garment by way of a flat pattern drawn for each customer, and throughout the process, they work to reduce waste and craft sustainably: “I am very careful with the way that I cut out the pieces of fabric, and I keep almost every scrap of fabric that is not used. Even really small ones.” These days, Cubacub produces about 80 pieces each month—helping to speed up that queer and crip revolution with a decidedly slow approach to fashion.