What began as a last-minute T-shirt at London Fashion Week now expands into a global collaboration with MAC, transforming visibility into funding, community and cultural momentum.
A slogan can travel fast, but turning it into something that holds requires structure, intention and scale. With MAC entering the equation, ‘Protect the Dolls’ moves beyond the runway to become a system. When Conner Ives closed his AW25 show wearing the now-iconic T-shirt, the gesture quickly evolved into a shared language across fashion and online communities, raising over $600,000 for trans-led organisations. Featuring Dominique Jackson, Ivy Stewart, Green Kim and Josephine DuPont, the project extends into a campaign rooted in community and visibility.
That momentum now takes shape through a collaboration with MAC Cosmetics, anchored in its VIVA GLAM initiative, which has long redirected 100% of lipstick sales towards social causes. Timed with Trans Day of Visibility, the release includes a new black T-shirt and a limited-edition lipstick, Viva Planet. Both function less as products than as vehicles: every purchase directly supports organisations such as The Trevor Project and Mermaids.
The project moves through a tension central to contemporary fashion: the distance between statement and action. Ives maintains a model with no profit extracted from the slogan, aligning with a growing demand for tangible impact.
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