Protect the Dolls shirt: Why all the celebrities are wearing it, including Troye Sivan and Pedro Pascal explained

Some of the biggest stars in the world have been wearing the same thing over the past few weeks.

Pedro Pascal wore it to his birthday party, Troye Sivan wore it on stage at Coachella, and Addison Rae posted a TikTok showing it off.

But what exactly is ‘it’? Well, the statement fashion piece is a simple white T-shirt with three very important words printed on it.

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Unless you’ve sworn off social media, you’ve probably seen the Protect The Dolls T-shirt before.

Several stars have made a point of wearing the T-shirt in public, using their platforms to help convey the important message it bears.

But what exactly does it mean?

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What does Protect The Dolls mean?

Protect The Dolls is a message of allegiance with the trans community, with ‘dolls’ being a colloquial term for trans women.

The T-shirt was designed by Connor Ives, who told The New York Times it was created in reaction to “the current political regime” in the US.

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“When I think of the challenges that trans people in the States are facing right now, I just keep thinking about how scared I was when I was a 12 year old gay white boy in an upper middle class suburb of New York City,” he said in an interview with Vogue.

“Let alone a trans girl in the middle of America under an administration that’s basically telling her that she doesn’t exist.”

What celebrities have worn the Protect The Dolls T-shirt?

The first star to go viral for wearing the T-shirt was Pedro Pascal, and for good reason. 

The Last of Us star was pictured wearing the T-shirt at his 50th birthday party with a video of him dancing on someone’s shoulders, pulling back his jacket and pointing to his T-shirt, going viral.

For Pascal, the fight for trans rights is a personal one.

His younger sister, Lux Pascal, came out as transgender in a February 2021 cover story for the Spanish Ya magazine.

She revealed she had begun hormone treatments the previous year, and that her family had been nothing but supportive – in particular, her older brother.

Lux said Pedro had been “an important part of this,” explaining that he had “served as a guide” for her and was “one of the first people to gift me the tools that started shaping my identity”.

After first sharing the news with Pedro, Luxe recalled his reaction being to tell her, “Perfect, this is incredible” and ever since, he has been a champion for trans rights, using his platform to advocate for the protection of LGBTQIA+ community.

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Troye Sivan also went viral after joining Charli XCX during her Coachella set wearing the T-shirt.

Shortly after his surprise appearance, the Aussie singer shared several snaps from the day on Instagram, including an image of him wearing the T-shirt and cuddling Alex Consani, the first transgender model to win the Fashion Award for Model of the Year.

Addison Rae has also made a point of wearing the T-shirt, showing it off in a TikTok ahead of her Coachella appearance, and designer Haider Ackerman posted an image of himself in the T-shirt.

Where do the proceeds from the Protect The Dolls T-shirt go?

All proceeds from the T-shirts go to Trans Lifeline, a trans-led non-profit organisation that offers a crisis hotline for trans people, connects them to community, and offers support through a peer program and financial aid.

Ives told The New York Times about 30 per cent of profits is reserved for material, production, printing and shipping cost, and the rest is given directly to Trans Lifeline.

When first making the T-shirt, Ives had considered multiple other charities to donate profits to, however he told Vogue he ultimately settled on Trans Lifeline because the funds “going directly to trans people with a trans-led organisation was the most clear to me”.

Ives first debuted the T-shirt at a runway show during London Fashion Week back in February and he says the demand has now far surpassed what he and his team had expected.

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As of April 13 more than $US70,000 (approximately $109,000) had been donated to Trans Lifeline, with 1088 T-shirts sold, a number that has since only continued to grow.

“In a best-case scenario, I was like, ‘we’re gonna raise like 50, 60 grand’. And that would have been a great day,” the designer told The New York Times.

“But it has now gotten to a point, like this past week, where we were putting up like 1,000 units in the morning and by the midafternoon they were gone. We’ve just never seen that kind of response.”

With only a small team, Ives said he has been doing a lot of the work himself to try and meet the demand, adding that the extra work has definitely taken its toll but he thinks “it would be wrong to stop”.

“The end goal for me would be to keep this as something that we can continue to sell and can continue to raise money for Trans Lifeline,” he shared.

Where to get the Protect The Dolls T-shirt?

The T-shirt can be purchased directly from Ives’ website and is currently available for pre-order.

There are a range of sizes available from XS to XXL and costs £75 (approximately $156).

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