Sunday Times

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media, as we feel that is our best way for people to relate to our product.”

Their lookbook is bold, with their simple hats and tees juxtaposed against bright, flowery background­s. The tees don’t need much to stand out against such a strong setting: seeing a man clad in a white T-shirt with the words No Means No written across them is a rather striking thing.

“While our perspectiv­e as womxn comes from a specific experience regarding these issues, we hope that other people can relate in their own way because consent goes beyond issues of gender,” they say.

Besides the really-not-at-allcomplic­ated issue of consent (which is often discussed on social media and in social circles as though it’s a complex philosophy that requires several higher education degrees to understand), another sexist idea that C(lit) clothing attacks is the notion that women dress for men. Spoiler alert: we don’t.

Not Wearing This For You is a slogan that’s on their bucket hats and T-shirts.

With gender-based violence and the treatment of women coming under scrutiny across South African media (and hopefully across our dinner tables, too), the label founders are aware of the contributi­on their work makes to the current gender discourse.

“We acknowledg­e that our voices are only a small part in the narrative going on in South Africa right now in terms of social issues. We are striving to create a brand that multiple people can relate to on some level. As womxn, we feel it is important to create something that can be shared with others . . . We hope that some of the texts we use can create discussion­s around gender inequality, consent issues and the patriarcha­l culture that is prevalent in our society at large.”

Zimmermann and Reyneke say they don’t have any solid ideas about where their brand will be in a year’s time: “We’re still working towards building our brand up; we are constantly going through processes of learning.”

In the end, C(lit) is about, as one of their slogans states, Pussy Power. And not just the oldfashion­ed (and insulting) idea that women’s true power lies between their legs, but the idea that women are powerful beings. And it’s about time everyone acknowledg­ed it. *‘Womxn’ is the intersecti­onal version of women, and is growing in use beyond feminist spaces.

• Find C(lit) clothing on Instagram (instagram.com/ c.lit.clothing) and on Facebook (facebook.com/ lit.c.lothings)

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