In March of 2008, I went to Palm Springs, California, to take in a bit of the sun and fun at the world's largest lesbian event, the Dinah Shore Weekend. Here, I'd like to introduce two super cool designers whose merchandise can be found on our online shop. TW sales are limited to lucky girls living in Japan only, but international readers can order directly from Parisa Parnian's Rigged OUT/fitters here and Vanessa Craig's Sew Gay and Xkiller, here and here.

Iranian-American Parisa Parnian was born in 1972 and raised in Arizona.
After studying fashion design at the Parsons School of Design in New York, Parnian worked at several clothing companies before establishing Rigged OUT/fitters, her own clothing label, in 2004. She currently resides in the queer mecca that is San Francisco.

After Rigged OUT/fitters first caught the attention of Ilene Chaiken, creator and producer of the hit TV drama The L Word, a few years back, Parnian was asked to design outfits for the drama's third season. She was brought to the set in Canada, where she spent time with the series’ cast working on fashion tailored to each of their characters. Sure enough, by catching the interest of program viewers, the popularity of Parnian’s clothing brand soared - bringing her to the head of the dyke fashion pack. Since then, she has maintained her close relationship with the program and currently writes as a fashion columnist for the The L Word's social networking site, OurChart, begun by Ilene Chaiken. She has also designed T-shirts in collaboration with Curve magazine, and has become a well-recognized powerhouse within the American lesbian scene today.