Swim By Alba, the British luxury swimwear brand committed to body positivity and the empowerment of all women, relaunches the Lili Gaff in time for International Transgender Day of Visibility (31st March). Designed and developed in-house, the Lili Gaff is a collaborative project that began in 2019, with trans advocate and model Lili St. Jerry. The supplementary under-garment is intuitively designed to address practical considerations and expands the range of swimwear available to trans women.

 
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual day dedicated to championing transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.
 
The Lili Gaff is a gender-affirming supplementary under-garment – specifically designed for transgender women. Made from a handpicked deluxe microfibre nylon blend, the Lili Gaff incorporates Swim By Alba’s signature seamless craftsmanship. The doubled-lined design with a built-in powernet fabric provides unparalleled control and smoothness for ultimate comfort, freedom and confidence when wearing swim, poolside or beachwear.


“Swim By Alba is committed to the empowerment of all women, including trans women. We worked tirelessly with Lili St. Jerry, our collaborator, to create the Lili Gaff in 2019 – a supplementary item that can be discreetly added to any of our existing pieces. By adding this piece to our collection, we made Swim By Alba more accessible to the transgender community.
Since then, the Lili Gaff has been restocked four times due to an incredibly high demand and shipped all over the world. We wanted to release the newest addition in a gorgeous Neutral tone to give trans women more options.”

Said Albana Janjeva, Creative Director and founder, Swim By Alba.

On the collaboration, model Lili St. Jerry said: “As trans women, we are often left to find creative solutions for ourselves, Swim by Alba now leads by example. It’s been two years since we joined forces to develop the Lili Gaff and saw it come to life – I’m still in awe that we saw a gap in the market took initiative to make a change, one gaff at a time. Our collaborative approach to inclusive swimwear will truly help all women feel like the best and confident versions of themselves.”
 
For transgender women, fashion can be a critical way to help affirm identity, offer a confidence boost, and, in some instances, provide safety. According to Stonewall around 1 per cent of the UK adult population — or roughly 600,000 Britons — identify as transgender.