Mission
Rebirth Garment’s mission is to create gender non-conforming wearables and accessories for queer and trans disabled folks of all sizes and ages. The line creates a community where all people can confidently express their individuality and identity. Our identity is that of Queer and Disabled, which encompasses queer, gender nonconforming identities, apparent and non-apparent disabilities/ disorders—physical, mental, psychological, intellectual, developmental, emotional, etc. In particular, our trans and disabled communities have very particular clothing needs that are not adequately served by mainstream clothing designers. Instead of being centered on cisgender, heterosexual, white, thin people, Rebirth Garments is centered on Queer and Disabled people.
Rebirth Garments challenges mainstream beauty standards that are sizest, ableist, and conform to the gender binary. Instead, we maintain the notion of Radical Visibility, a movement based on claiming our bodies and, through the use of bright colors, exuberant fabrics, and innovative designs, highlighting the parts of us that society typically shuns. Through Radical Visibility, we refuse to assimilate and can create a QueerCrip dress reform movement.
About Sky Cubacub, the creator of Rebirth Garments
Rebirth Garments are designed and made by hand by me, Sky Cubacub (They/Them). I am a non-binary xenogender and disabled Filipinx queer from Chicago, IL in a neighborhood that is on stolen Meskwaki land. I have life long anxiety and panic disorders as well as a still undiagnosed stomach disorder, PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), depression, C-PTSD and environmental illness. I first dreamed of this collection when I was in high school and couldn’t find a place where I could buy a chest binder as a person who was under 18, and who didn't have access to a credit card to buy one online. I also was unsatisfied with the boring options available that were largely white, black or beige, so I wanted to create something that was celebratory of my identities and made me feel cute and sexy at the same time.
When I was 21 years old, my stomach mysteriously stopped working properly. I couldn’t wear what I now call “hard pants” (jeans or non stretch pants) due to pain. My inability to eat, combined with other life events, exacerbated my lifelong anxiety and panic disorder. I took a semester off from my college and decided to become a new person. On May 21, 2013, I had held a performance art ceremony that I dubbed a Rebirthing Ceremony. When I went back to school, I kept thinking about what clothing that I could comfortably wear. In the past, I had made an absorbent terry cloth- backed screen printed scarf for my cousin Sophie, who had Hereditary Sensory Neuropathy Type 2. Sophie’s mom, Jody, suggested I make a clothing line for disabled kids. I didn’t want to only focus on kids, though— I wanted to make clothing for everyone.
When I first started Rebirth Garments, none of the people at my school thought that disabled people could be sexual, let alone queer. My college had very few physically disabled students or students who outwardly identified as disabled, due to the inaccessibility of tuition and the culture of ignoring your body and mind’s needs. At the time, all the leading trans undergarment lines adhered to the outdated pre/post operative surgical thinking, using the terms FTM (female to male) or MTF (male to female) to describe only two possible transitions, both conforming to binary frameworks. This not only limits the trans experience to binary expectations, but also promotes unrealistic views on passing. It validates only post- operative “passing” trans individuals—a specific narrative that doesn’t embody the full spectrum of trans people. Rebirth Garments is unique in that it celebrates the non-binary experience, making it more visible. Rebirth fosters a community that creates a space for the self-identification of gender, whatever it may be.
The aesthetic that I show on my Instagram and website is my own, but every model is wearing a garment that came from an interview I did with them in order to figure out a dream look! I ask each person their favorite colors and patterns, what would make clothing more accessible to their body, what would show off their gender expression best, what parts of their body they want to highlight, what parts they feel vulnerable about and what parts they feel vulnerable about but want to show off in this context. Unlike most designers who don’t even wear their own clothing and objectify their models, I also always model and try out as much of my clothing as possible so that I know it is comfortable and so that I am in the same boat as the models as far as being vulnerable goes! To be clear, I believe clothing has no gender, makeup has no gender and colors have no gender. Anybody of any gender can wear whatever garments they want, I do have some clothing that was designed to fulfill common needs of specific gender expressions, but anyone can wear them! I am not interested in androgyny! The newer “gender neutral” collections in existing fast fashion stores look like post apocalyptic “androgynous” boringness, that are just grey hoodies and jeans which are already largely accepted as things that can be worn by any gender and require no imagination. I do not see these big box stores celebrating queer futurism, it is representing queer death wrapped in faux utilitarian homogeny by not recognizing or celebrating our differences. Rebirth Garments gives the option of wearing bright colors and patterns or wearing neutrals and darker colors if that is what you want rather than keeping with the status quo and not giving anyone a choice besides black or racist “nudes” that are only based on white people. Autonomy is something that is largely taken away from our trans, disabled, mad, queer, intersex, fat/ superfat and POC communities, so the freedom to be allowed to make a choice is extremely important to me, my models, my clients and my community. If you do not like this, then you don’t have to buy it!
It is impossible for my one clothing line to make every single style of clothing, which I why it is so important that other disabled, mad, trans, fat, superfat and POC folx are supported in starting their own clothing lines. My specialty is dance wear, club wear, swimwear and lingerie. I have branched out to face masks to fulfill a great need. I am not skilled in formalwear (unless it is spandex), business clothing, business casual clothing, knitwear, jeans, or non-stretch fabrics in general, so I will not be accepting requests for those. Each type of clothing manufacture require certain machines and tools that are hyper specific and no designer makes every single type of style of garment, so I have chosen to specialize in all things spandex because it is what I enjoy making the most and am most skilled at.
I make free/reduced priced garments for to make Rebirth Garments more accessible financially to queer, trans and disabled youth and people in need (especially face masks right now) so contact me if you need free or reduced price face masks or gender affirming undergarments.
Short Biography (for journalists, curators, exhibitions, researchers to use)
Sky Cubacub (They/Them/Xey/Xem/Xyr) is a non-binary xenogender and disabled Filipinx queer from Chicago, IL. They are the creator of Rebirth Garments, a line of wearables for trans, queer and disabled people of all sizes and ages, which started in summer 2014. Sky is the editor of the Radical Visibility Zine, a full color cut and paste style zine that celebrates disabled queer life, with an emphasis on joy. As a multidisciplinary artist, Sky is interested in fulfilling the needs for disabled queer life, with an emphasis on joy. Additionally they are the Access Brat and the editor of a section on ethics and inclusion called “Cancel & Gretel” at literary fashion magazine “Just Femme and Dandy”. Sky has also created a queer fashion program series with Chicago Public Library Called Radical Fit. They have had over 45 fashion performances and lectured at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Utah, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University. Rebirth Garments has been featured in Teen Vogue, Nylon, Playboy, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Vice, Wussy Mag, and the New York Times. Sky was named 2018 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and is a 2019/2020 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist and a Disability Futures Fellow.
Radically Chill CBD
I also run a CBD line for chronically ill babes called Radically Chill! click on the picture to the right to check it out if you love CBD or are curious about it!!
My cousin Josh and I run it together and he answers all the questions about it on our Instagram at @radicallychill.me
Photo by Colectivo Multipolar
[image description: Sky is holding up a “solidarity strawberry” flavored CBD isolate tincture and dripping the tincture back into the bottle. They have brown curly short hair and cloud makeup with a matching spandex cloud crop top, a lavender lariat chainmaille chain and they them earrings by @tiny.bangs for @later_operator ]
Our Team
Sky- everything
Calla- fabrication/ production of custom orders, pattern making, cutting- sewing
Morgan- fabrication/ production of custom orders, pattern making, cutting- sewing
Our Ethics
By making each order by hand and made to your measurements we are doing slow fashion! We are also a zero waste company, meaning all of our scraps are used! Bigger scraps are used in workshops Sky teaches and littler scraps are used for Sky’s mother’s art classes at her grade school usually for decorating puppets! Every employee is making at least $17 an hour
Our Fabric Sources
Spoonflower- Currently with all the mask making, all the custom print fabrics are sourced from Spoonflower! This is a print on demand fabric printing business that only prints what is needed for orders using a pigment printing process which greatly reduces water, energy and materials waste vs. the usual reactive dye. They ethically source their fabrics from a small group of trusted vendors. Eventually we would like to mainly use spoonflower as our spandex source!
Spandex World - I buy my solid colored spandex and most patterned spandex here as well as the sheer mesh. They get all of their fabric from South Korea. As a note all of their Milliskin Shiny & Matte spandex fabrics have been tested and have been rated at 50+ blocks 99-99.5% of all UV rays.
Spandex House- I buy my powernet from here and a few of the patterned spandexes. One of the largest spandex sellers in the world.