Online Both& creates apparel for transmasculine community

Teya Vitu, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·1 min read

Oct. 25—Both& is a new online apparel store with clothing specifically designed for the transmasculine and nonbinary community.

"We are designing for people assigned female at birth but who identify somewhere on the spectrum of masculine," Both& founder and CEO Finnegan Shepard said.

Shepard at some point wants to open a brick-and-mortar store either in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, where Shepard is based.

Shepard launched Both& as an online store — bothandapparel.com — in June 2021 with no marketing, just black and white T-shirts and $1,800 in monthly sales. Sales last month hit $36,000, and merchandise now includes T-shirts, swim wear, hoodies, pants and button-down shirts.

Female bodies don't fit well in men's clothing, Shepard said, adding that Both& designs tend toward boxy and heavy fabric.

"None of it signals gender," Shepard said. "It's a profound shift for people to feel comfortable."

Both& has raised $800,000 in angel funding with a goal of $1 million. Some of the funding comes from the New Mexico Angels and its partner, New Mexico Vintage Fund 2022.