About Queerkind Clothing
Queerkind Clothing: Many stories. One community.
Queerkind Clothing isn’t just another online shop for queer t-shirts, hats, and hoodies. It’s a celebration of queer culture, self-expression, gender fluidity, and the complex journey each of us in the queer community navigates as we define ourselves and move through the world as we truly are.
Quietly Iconic - the word Queerkind came to me one morning as a way to describe the broader LGBTQIA+ community. Not just gay, lesbian, trans, bi, or a myriad of other terms which define the unique slivers of our population, Queerkind is a word which can define our collective communities, collective identities, collective experiences and histories.
Queerkind encompasses everything we are and have been throughout time. Queerkind is timeless, limitless - ubiquitous.
The Start of the Brand
Queerkind Clothing was founded by me, Carlin Felder, Hudson Valley, NY–based artist and designer. My professional career was spent creating products for some of the world’s most well-known fashion brands. Launching Queerkind Clothing has felt like a natural extension of my prior work.
As a lifelong lesbian who has been part of queer culture spanning four decades, I create each piece as a way to express identity, visibility, and belonging beyond seasonal pride apparel and rainbows. Queerkind products are meant to be worn year round and speak to identity as a whole and not just the most colorful segments during pride month.
While some pieces will address key trends in social media for fun, the overarching brand vision is to be present, expressive and iconic.
My Story
I came out back in the 1980s in Texas. Coming out in 1985, which was my senior year in high school, meant coming out during the mullet era when being gay, trans, or even claiming the word "queer" was a challenge. The pace of change within the LGBTQIA+ community has been astounding since then.
From don't say you are "gay" in public to women on TikTok trying to figure out how to look more "wlw" to meet someone in real life nowadays - the world has shifted in monumental ways this generation will never have to experience.
When I came out, there were no online quizzes to help you figure out if you were gay or not, there wasn’t even an online world. Dating apps didn't exist, and coming out was a panic inducing undertaking.
For me, the path out meant spotting lesbians in the wild and strategically shopping where they worked, quietly hoping one might rescue me from the closet. When that didn’t happen, I finally took the bull by the horns and asked someone out on a date myself. While I fumbled the first few experiences I had with women, I knew that being out was the most important thing in my life, and I had to be true to my core self.
Navigating being a lesbian in the 1980's was a challenge though. My parents, who converted to evangelical christianity when they found out that I was dating women, were not accepting of this at all. My parents spent the next few decades trying to force their brand of Christianity upon me, which worked to make me stronger and more resolute in becoming my authentic self. Many of us who come out in the bible belt experience this type of reaction, and it is incredibly painful.
Coming out in the 1980's
In the 1980's the world was changing with the AIDS epidemic taking our loved ones away with a horrific disease. There was so much fear and shame associated with this, but as a community, we rallied around each other and built a stronger world for ourselves.
The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which many people may not even know about, was created to commemorate those of us in the gay community who had passed due to HIV. https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt
Being "out" wasn't the same as it is today. There wasn't social media - there were very few out musicians, sports icons and actors in the 80's and 90's. Being out was risky, but the world was changing, and I was living it.
I was part of the Gay Pride groups on campus at my university in Texas. This was literally the only place other than a gay bar to connect.
In the 1990's more and more communities began having Pride Parades. The world was changing in ways we never imagined.
The symbol of choice when I came out was the Pink Triangle. Before the rainbow flag became widely recognized in its many iterations, the pink triangle was one of the most powerful symbols of queer identity and resistance.
During the Holocaust, Nazi Germany forced gay men to wear a pink triangle in concentration camps as a mark of shame and persecution. Decades later, in the 1970s, the LGBTQ+ community reclaimed that symbol turning it from a badge of oppression into one of remembrance, defiance, and pride.
By taking back the pink triangle, queer activists honored those who were lost while asserting a clear truth: what was once used to dehumanize us would no longer define us. It became a symbol not just of survival, but of refusal to be erased, silenced, or shamed again.
Vision & Mission for Queerkind Clothing
My vision is to create apparel that reflects the diversity, resilience, and vibrancy of the LGBTQIA+ community as it continues to evolve - from a time when self-expression was limited and risky to a world where we can openly and proudly live as who we are.
At Queerkind Clothing, I believe queer apparel is a powerful form of self-expression - an effortless way to show who you are, who you’re into, and how you choose to move through the world.
My mission is to create inclusive clothing that empowers you to wear your pride with quiet confidence if that's what you prefer. Sometimes a simple QUEERKIND logo on a tee, hoodie, or hat says everything.
Join me on this journey to embrace and celebrate every shade of queer identity. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, contact me below with your ideas, and I’ll be happy to chat with you!
