Why We’re Psyched For Lena Dunham’s Upcoming Documentary
Lena Dunham’s had a busy week. She posted a slew of awesome advice videos, gotten some killer reviews for her upcoming book, and she just announcedplans to produce an HBO documentary titled Three Suits. The film will center around Bindle & Keep, an LGBTQ-friendly tailor located in Brooklyn with a reputation for assisting transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Because we’re already hooked on this idea, we did a little digging to find out more about her subject.
Bindle & Keep co-founder Daniel Friedman was profiled in New York Magazine earlier this year, discussing the deeply personal and meticulous steps he takes to ensure that his clients receive quality, first-rate fittings and final products.
“There are two kinds of custom suits: made-to-measure and bespoke,” Friedman told the magazine. “With made-to-measure, they’ll make something like 1,000 jackets, keep them unfinished, take pointed measurements, then alter or finish them. Then there’s truly made-to-order, or bespoke, which is what we do. We buy the cloth, and we make it from scratch.”
“Five-foot-five and pretty thin,” Friedman knows first hand how difficult it can be for individuals whose bodies fall outside the fashion industry’s standard sizes to find quality components of a wardrobe without having to spend big bucks having alterations done. “While many people know how to take measurements for short guys, they don’t know how to make them look great,” he told New York Magazine.
Up until seven years ago, Friedman worked as an architect until he came down with what turned out to be Lyme disease, rendering him unable to read or write. After struggling to find employment, Friedman developed a passion for visual aesthetics, which eventually led to the opening of Bindle & Keep.
Friedman hopes to expand Bindle & Keep to new markets, opening up shop in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Toronto.
The documentary will shine light the many frequently-overlooked issues LGBTQ individuals face when shopping for clothes. From struggling to find correct sizes to being outright discriminated against, many LGBTQ people — especially transgender and gender non-conforming individuals — feel unwelcome when shopping for clothing. Viewers of the documentary can hope to gain a bit of insight about these struggles. Better yet, there’s the possibility that others within the fashion industry will finally take note of the ways they might be subconsciously turning this population away.
