Kngsley - The Label Blurring Gender Roles With Tank Tops
Meet the brand uplifting the queer Black community
Kingsley Gbadegesin is a 27-year-old, first-generation Nigerian-American and is working to advance liberation for the Black community, the Queer community, and People of Color. His label, K.ngsley, launched in the summer of 2020 – during the Black Lives Matter protests across the world. Gbadegesin tells Vogue, “it was like a light switch went off – to make the tanks and use the money to sustain and build a community.” The proceeds from collection drops are donated to non-profits that benefit Black, queer, and trans people.
Now, Gbadegesin has reinvented the tank top. What was already a wardrobe staple has now been amplified into a stylish piece perfect for a night out. “It sprouted from going out and nightlife culture,” Gbadegesin says. He decided to rework a tank top when he was heading out to a party in Brooklyn. The tank he wanted to wear was dirty, so he took another one and decided to get creative. He initially turned it into a crop top and decided ‘this isn’t gay enough’. After a quick “snip-snip” he made a more revealing, cut-out tank, that he referred to as “very Regina George from Mean Girls.” Once, Gbadesgesin arrived at the venue people instantly wanted to know where his top was from.
That’s how K.ngsley was born. The brand is genderless and re-works tops with open backs, asymmetrical straps, and curved hemlines. He wanted to make sure the pieces were universally flattering for all bodies. The tank tops are extremely meaningful; the line seeks to dismantle stereotypical tropes surrounding Black masculinity. “Tank tops, broadly known as wife beaters, are tied into that image of Black maledom,” Gbadegesin explains. “I took that symbol and literally ripped it up. Elevated it and reworked it to reclaim it.”
Shop the K.ngsley line here.
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