US actor Pedro Pascal made a statement as he stepped onto the Leicester Square red carpet for Marvel film Thunderbolts on Tuesday evening.
Joining his co-star Florence Pugh, Pascal donned a white T-shirt which read “Protect The Dolls”. The slogan T-shirt, which has become a celebrity favourite this month also seen on Tilda Swinton, Lisa Rinna and Troye Sivan, was designed by American born, London based fashion designer Conner Ives, and is a call to arms to protect transgender people who are colloquially referred to as “dolls” by some in the LGBTQ+ community.
All proceeds from T-shirt sales, which cost £75 at connerives.com, “will go directly to Trans Lifeline, a US -based, trans led organization that delivers life-saving services to those who need them most. The hotline connects trans people to a wider community, offering support and resources they need to survive and thrive,” Ives said in an Instagram post.
Pascal, whose younger sister is the actress and activist Lux Pascal who came out as transgender in 2021, also wore the T-shirt to his 50th birthday party earlier this month. He joins other A-listers who have worn Ives’ shirts as trans rights are questioned on both sides of the Atlantic.
Troye Sivan wore the T-shirt to guest perform during Charli xcx’s set at Coachella this month, while designer Haider Ackermann, current creative director of Tom Ford, was pictured in the shirt while posing with Tilda Swinton. Swinton herself has taken a selfie with the top on, while The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna shared a clip of her dancing in the tee with fishnets on to Instagram.
The shirts are flying off the shelves. Speaking to the New York Times on April 18, Ives said “as of right now, net sales are at £190,235. The way we’re kind of doing the rough math of it is that we reserve approximately 30 percent for the raw material costs, production, the printing, shipping, all of these things and then everything else goes directly to Trans Lifeline.”
He first wore the T-shirt to take his bow during London Fashion Week in February, and continued: “We’re in very trying times right now — the world is changing in front of our very eyes and there was a helplessness that came with that. The girls who walk my show are trans and I have so many friends that are trans women in the United States. It reached a point where I couldn’t really remove myself anymore.”
