Pocket Pioneers

The Pockets Project isn't the only one tackling pocket inequality. Read on below about other designers, past and present, who have manifested pockets in innovative ways.

 

Sarah Greisdorf is the founder of Holdette which created the Leslie Suit, complete with EIGHT(!) pockets.

M.M.LaFleur’s designer Miyako Nakamura incorporates pockets into a number of items in their collection of women’s workwear.

Eleanor Turner cofounded Argent and even filed provisional patents on the pockets she designed in suits. Now she’s continuing to innovate by creating recyclable undergarments via The Big Favorite.

Kimber-Lee Alston is an entrepreneur turned filmmaker who created The Playsuit with an internal chest pocket for ID cards and deep mesh pockets in the shorts.

Yoko Shimada is the founder of Mitera where she innovated in maternity clothing, adding strategically placed zippers for breastfeeding and kangaroo pockets to store things.

Kendra Kroll was fed up with the lack of pockets and created a wearable pocket called Porta Pocket that attaches to your arm, leg, or waistband, and can be worn over or under clothing.

Francesca Suman, a design strategist, examined gender bias through complicit design in her industrial designmasters thesis Parity Pockets. These no-sew pocket extenders combined with their workshop immediately fix a gender biased design failure as well as promote awareness and education on the issue.

There were several fashion designers who embraced functional pockets, particularly in the 1940’s and 1970’s. Head over to the @pocketsproject instagram to see a few of them in our #pocketsfromthepast series!

Lastly, while not a clothing designer, I’d like to give a nod to Maya Rodale who wrote Duchess by Design. If you’re intro romance novels and pockets, this one checks both boxes.