by Ace Mann (they/them)

If you are a member of the queer community on Lekwungen territory who uses Instagram, you’ve probably heard of Q Threadz by now! They are a sliding scale, upcycled clothing company that believes clothing has no gender and anyone should feel welcome and comfortable shopping with them. Primarily focused on the local GSRD (Gender, Sexual, and Relationship Diverse) community, a portion of every sale is given back through queer or queer-supporting initiatives. Even though they’ve only been in business since November 2020, they’ve already donated $1000 locally!

We had the chance to sit down with the co-founder of Q Threadz, Mady (she/her), to chat a little about the budding business and some exciting things coming down the pipeline!

“Even though we’re relatively new,” Mady expressed joyously, “the response has been overwhelmingly positive!” Q Threadz—@qthreadz on Instagram—gets all of their clothing by donation and then posts it along with general sizing, measurements, and photos of the clothes being worn by people of many genders. Most items sold in the online shop are donated by people in the queer community and, if a piece doesn’t sell, Mady is proud to say that it doesn’t go to waste! Q Threadz donates any unsold pieces to local community centers and places that will provide these items to the community sans charge.

Binders Program

The crowning jewel of Q Threadz is their binder program; the brainchild of their founder, Kash (he/him). Bringing this up in conversation, Mady gets visibly excited and almost emotional in explaining the reception they’ve gotten so far. “Kash had the idea for it to be ‘pay-what-you-can’ and it’s been actually life-changing for some people already! We wanted this to be where people who might not otherwise be able to afford it can buy their first binders and be affirmed. Or second binders, or thirds. These can be life-saving and no one should have to pay an amount they can’t afford to get one!”

The hope for the program is for people to have access to binders at an affordable rate. “Some youth really need these to help with dysphoria but they can’t afford them. That’s heartbreaking!” Mady says they’ve even had people reach out an offer to pay it forward, sending funding for a binder so that another person can get it for free.

Mady and I discussed the vast differences in binder sizes, cuts, and measurements even within the same brand. It can be very difficult to understand what might fit when going between brands as well.

Beyond Rewarding

While it’s been a lot of juggling, time, effort, and work, Mady says it’s been beyond rewarding. “We’ve only been around since November and we’ve had such a great response. Being able to give over $1000 back to the local community is incredible. I’m excited to see where the future takes us!”

If you know of an individual who needs a binder, Q Threadz is there to help! And if you have gently used apparel to donate and would like the proceeds to go back to our local GSRD communities, contact Q Threads on Instagram and they’d be happy to chat!

We want to thank Mady for sitting down with us and taking the time to chat!