Warrior Womxn: The Power of Language

Over the last few months we’ve been evolving to avoid spreading too thin and make the best difference we can as a purposeful company. We’ve asked ourselves who are we? Who are we here for? Who is the majority that supports us? And the answer was women, and through a great process of learning we’ve decided to adopt the spelling ‘womxn’.

It’s not a typo, it’s a considered and purposeful decision - a gentle symbol of solidarity, of inclusion… of ‘we get it and we see you’. We understand not everyone likes this term, but for many people who sadly have to deal with social exclusion relating to who they are, it’s a helpful signal of inclusion that indicates we recognise that the spectrum of womanhood is vast – and rightly so. We also LOVE the mathematical roots of this spelling – as ‘X’ has historically stood for the unknown. It leaves room for a variety of interpretations and general openness! It's also crucial to note that there are people in this world who exist outside of the gender spectrum too, and more power to them! We’re not trying to group non-binary rebels into a category they don’t feel connected to.

The bottom line is that Prickly’s for everyone - always have been and always will, so nothing has actually changed. But we do feel it is important to explain why we’ve chosen to use this spelling and we feel confident that the workings across our company show that this is not just ‘talking the talk’…like when it comes to size & shape (tailormade service), financial situations (flexible payment plans, marketplace), skin sensitivity (wool wonders) and combatting harmful fantasy in our imagery.

Just like greenwashing, ‘woke-washing’ is becoming a problem as big companies try to appear inclusive on the surface yet aren’t making changes where it counts in the inner workings of their business that end up impacting negatively on the very same communities they’re claiming to support.

The way we make clothes means we can work freely with all bodies, gender identities and backgrounds, and never force people into categories. Our clothes are for anyone who wants to wear their values and give the middle finger to the ‘fashion’ industry’s bullshit. In the end what unites us more than anything is our determination to alleviate the destruction of our natural home and nurture a fabric culture that’s rooted in care and respect. Because in the end climate change will come for all of us and it won’t differentiate!

Love,

Clare and The Team

X

P.S If you want to learn more about the womxn spelling, click here