Trans women are now in Saks' famous windows, thanks to 'Transparent'

Maeve McDermott | USATODAY

Saks Fifth Avenue’s famous window displays just got a little more inclusive.

As part of Amazon’s For Your Consideration campaign, in support of their shows' awards season chances, six of the service’s TV shows are taking over the windows of the luxury department store for one week, ending June 30. Each window features mannequins wearing clothes inspired by Mozart in the Jungle, Patriot, Transparent, Z: The Beginning of Everything and The Man in the High Castle, set against video displays showing scenes from each show.

However, the Transparent window, featuring outfits inspired by Jeffrey Tambor’s transgender female character Maura, and video showing several of the show’s trans characters, was particularly meaningful. At an event unveiling the displays Thursday, several trans women in Transparent’s cast and crew celebrated the exhibit, a rare representation of transgender women in one of New York City’s most famous sightseeing locations, and shared their own stories of a time when NYC wasn’t as accepting as it is today.

"I found myself in this city, so I have a love affair with New York, and I transitioned here," said Trace Lysette, who plays Shea. "So I associate it with a lot of pain and joy, and stores like Saks and Macy's and Bloomingdales, they’re iconic, and the windows really are a big piece of pop culture for the passers-by on the street."

Alongside the video display, the Transparent window showed two mannequins dressed in outfits similar to those Tambor's character of Maura wore on the show.

"That's definitely Maura," said Transparent writer Our Lady J, looking at the window. She was particularly moved by the exhibit’s video, which shows clips from an episode she wrote starring 12-year-old trans actress Sophia Grace Gianna as a young Maura.

"I almost just cried about that, because she’s a 12-year-old trans girl living her life openly and honestly," she said. "I’m a little emotional after seeing that, because I lived in New York for ten years, I transitioned while I was here, while I was a schoolteacher in the public schools in New York, and it was hard. It wasn’t open — you’d think New York would be open, but New York had a long way to go. So Saks Fifth Avenue featuring a trans person in a window is just amazing."

According to Alexandra Billings, who plays Davina, the window is proof of progress in American society towards accepting trans men and women. "Corporate America shaking hands with a marginalized community is extraordinary," she said. "And it proves that times are changing. We’re not stuck in these terrible times — they’re not as bad as we think they are. I think there’s a ray of hope."

"Trans people have been around since the earliest human civilizations," agreed Zackary Drucker, one of Transparent's producers. "We’ve been present even when we’re not visible or out about our identities. And certainly in the fashion world, there’s a long precedent of trans people being discreet about their gender history."

Druker thanked Saks and Amazon for helping "amplify" Transparent's social messaging. "We show up to work every day with a social justice mission, to create more acceptance and more empathy for the trans experience, and any partnership or alliances that we can create to help achieve our mission is why we’re here."

Saks Fifth Avenue has improved it's relationship with the trans community after backlash to a 2015 lawsuit that was filed by a trans employee alleging she was harassed and later fired for her gender identity. The argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 didn't apply to discrimination based on gender identity, but eventually withdrew that defense settled the suit.





While Saks couldn't confirm that the Transparent display was the first representation of a transgender woman in its windows, noting the range of clients who've sponsored windows in the past, the store's chief creative officer Mark Briggs acknowledged the range of experiences shown in Amazon's displays, from Maura's dresses to the Man in the High Castle's kimonos.

"We like to try to be first, in most of the ideas that we come forward with," he said. "And I think more and more nowadays in lifestyle, you're seeing the forefront of fashion come through in film, television and theater, which we're capturing and giving that 360 approach."