Written By Jasmine D. Lowe

Photography: Nicolette J - Pownall

Nik Kacy is a fashion designer, the founder of Equality Fashion Week, a board member of the Los Angeles LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and part of the Trans Inclusion Task Force for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. They have created a luxury footwear and accessories brand of the same name that is gender-equal and gender-free. 

“I've been a producer for almost 20 years in different facets of the advertising industry,” said Nik Kacy. “I produced print, radio, web content, commercials, industrials, events, gaming, and everything but fashion basically. I think producing is probably one of my major loves. I love every aspect of being a producer no matter what it is and I think that you have that skill set as a producer, you can pretty much produce anything. It's just about putting in the time to learn whatever industry it is. So when I decided to do fashion, I just immersed myself. I traveled in Europe after I had top surgery and went to all these different international shoe fairs and to factories all over Europe to learn about the industry and also to ask why nobody was making shoes for people like me.”

The luxury shoemaking industry was predominantly male and old fashioned. Many of the designer shoes Nik came across were made with cis men in mind. Oftentimes the design between differently gendered shoes varies, which can be frustrating to anyone who is worried more about the design and fit of apparel than the intended gender of the wearer.

“Shoes, in general, are categorized by women or men, no matter what kind of design it is,” Nik said. “If you have the same style of shoe in a men's version like a men's nine. That's a woman’s 11 or 12 or somewhere in between. If you were to take the same shoe in a men's version and go to the women's version is like the same size they're proportionately different. Now that could be because yes, there are small proportional differences between the feet of cis-gendered men as cis-gendered women. However, overall, a shoe size is a size, right? It either fits your feet or it doesn't.” 

“What I realized was that when I went to the men's section and I really loved the style, and if by some miracle they say we have a women's version of that in your size, I would go put that on,” Nik continued. “But I would look down and significantly notice a proportional difference to the design itself, but not the fit. It's an optical illusion. The cut of it would make my feet look significantly smaller. I would look down and be like, ‘Why do I look like I have a child's foot?’ When I put on the men's version, which was only maybe a size off, I had significantly larger looking feet.” 

The shoes and accessories under the Nik Kacy brand do not compromise design, style, and fit. They aim to create something that is accessible for everyone, but also something that is high quality and durable to avoid fast fashion and the feeling that queer people don't deserve the best. By making their shoes genderless, one can just focus on whether they like the shoes and forget the rest. 

“Men’s shoes are durable, reliable, affordable, and they last and women's shoes don't. They're also charged the feminine tax. I realized that I wanted to create shoes that were genderless because it's just about if it fits. There's no difference in proportions. There is no difference in the sizing. I created my own sizing based off of what I felt was the average foot and worked from there, and then the proportion of the design. There's no optical illusion in my shoes. It's just the style. It's a design. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't.” 

“I started designing high heels, but it's been very challenging because a lot of factories don't want to make high heels that are beyond the customary seven sizes that are in women's size range,” Nik continued. “It is a very masculine and archaic industry with a lot of homophobia and transphobia involved that I have to face.” 

Despite facing challenges and discrimination emanating from the luxury shoe industry, Nik Kacy still manages to give back by donating shoes to the LGBT community and the youth center’s community closet. 

“My first mission in life is to support the community of the underrepresented and all the people who have not been fairly treated or represented,” said Nik. “I know what it feels like to not be seen and to not be visible and to not be cared for from growing up and being queer and being trans. It’s my first goal in everything I do. I produce events and I'm very involved in the LGBTQ community because that is my mission in life. The fact that I design and create a brand that supports that is secondary. It's part of fulfilling the first mission.” 

The road to fulfilling their mission wasn’t easy. They had a crowdfunding campaign when they first started and ended up depleting their life savings six years ago in order to pursue their dream. 

“Making an impact in people's lives where you're giving them a chance to be their true selves proudly makes all the struggles worth it,” said Nik. “I've had people tell me when they put my shoes on the first time that they walked taller. They were walking taller because they were finally wearing shoes that were meant for them. Money's not everything, it's important to pay your bills of course, but I think that when queer young people want to go into the fashion industry, they have to be ready for a lot of uphill battles. But don't give up. You'll get there.” 

You can find more information on Nik Kacy and their brand by visiting their website at nikkacy.com.

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