When Conner Ives took a bow at the end of his AW25 show, he did so wearing a t-shirt with a simple message: ‘Protect the Dolls’. Demand for the t-shirt was immediately so high that Ives was inspired to make it available to the public, and it quickly became one of the most sought-after pieces of 2025. It’s been worn by celebrities like Pedro Pascal, Addison Rae, Troye Sivan and Madonna, raised over $600,000 for Trans Lifeline and Not A Phase, and inspired versions like ‘Let The Dolls Play’ by grassroots football clubs Goal Diggers FC and Baller FC. 

Now, to mark Trans Day of Visibility next week, Ives has partnered with MAC Cosmetics, and its VIVA GLAM initiative, to launch a limited-edition Protect the Dolls black t-shirt and a lipstick in the shade Viva Planet with the Protect the Dolls design on the bullet, with 100 per cent of the selling price being donated to organisations advancing trans equality.

The accompanying campaign stars a cast of trailblazing dolls – Josephine DuPont, Ivy Stewart, Green Kim and Dominique Jackson – who also walked in Ives’ AW26 show. “My first Viva Glam was when I saw RuPaul on billboards and it let me know that there was room in the world for all of us. So to be a part of this right now is very full circle for me. It’s dream after dream coming true,” says Jackson. 

“I’m an immigrant, I’m a Black trans woman, I’m living in a time where I shouldn’t be but I am, so when people protect us and look out for us, it lets me know that the world can be a safe place. Conner has continued to dedicate himself to the allyship of protecting the dolls, and looking out for us and providing us with work. We need our allies to stand up with us and for us.”

Below we spoke to Ives and Nicola Formichetti, global creative director of MAC, about the partnership and protecting the dolls.

This collaboration seems like such an organic partnership – how did it come about? 

Conner Ives: In all of the overwhelming response to ‘Protect the Dolls’, I had gotten word from someone from MAC. It was just an initial exploratory thing, but we got on a call with them and we realised very quickly that this would be something bigger. And I have been such a fan of Nicola and his work since I was a kid. I was a Little Monster growing up, so this was surreal. 

Nicola Formichetti: Yeah, totally. I respect him so much as a designer, and then what he did with ‘Protect the Dolls’ was so amazing. I wanted to join forces with him to make his stage even bigger.

Conner, you said that you never expected the shirt to explode like it did. Why do you think it did?

Conner Ives: The t-shirt was really born out of a place of necessity, and also a feeling of not knowing what else I could do or say. I remember having a conversation with my boyfriend where we were kind of debating it, you know: ‘Do we want to do this? Are we sure that the message is going to land?’ And I think through all that analysing, I realised I don’t really care how it lands. Because I think it just needs to be said. I felt really helpless – and my helplessness is nothing compared to my trans friends in America whose rights were being taken away from them. So I think that that was the moment where [we realised] it's not really about us. This is something bigger, ultimately.

Do you think the response to the t-shirt shows how helpless everyone else was feeling as well? 

Conner Ives: Yeah. And I think a lot of what created a bigger ‘movement’ out of this was the way that we did it. We were really adamant from the beginning, and I was really adamant in this partnership, that there is no profit gained from this t-shirt. So it was nice to see Nicola really took the message and followed through with it.

Nicola Formichetti: It felt very genuine from his side, and it just spoke directly to our soul. It was so beautiful. And then it’s like, ‘Okay, we could do something even bigger and keep the conversation going’?. I love what Conner said at the beginning, like, ‘Okay, we’ve done ‘Protect the Dolls’, but what’s the next stage? What’s the actual action?’ Let's keep the conversation going, but actually do something about it.

Yeah, I think that’s really important because there was some response sto the t-shirts – and slogan t-shirts in general, not just this one, but all t-shirt activism – that it’s performative or it doesn’t go far enough. What would you say to that?

Conner Ives: I think the feedback to that is that I’ve been very transparent the whole time – we were not giving this out to people. Stylists would call me up and they’d say, ‘Hey, we want this for whoever’ and I would always say, great, here’s the link. You can purchase it and we'll send it out tomorrow, priority shipping, but you have to pay for it. And the most beautiful part is that everyone was like, ‘of course’. 

Also, further to that conversation, this t-shirt was created in consultation with my trans friends. That was something that I really wanted to ensure that the messaging was correct on. At the end of the day, with anything this big, you’re always going to have people in an opposing camp, and power to them. If this is something that you don’t feel speaks to you, then let’s have that conversation and let’s figure out a way that we can take that feedback and design an even better product.

 Nicola Formichetti: I love when in fashion, and in this case beauty, we can do something bigger than what we normally do. I think fashion and beauty have that power to create something really big that speaks to a lot of people. Viva Glam was that – to use the power of lipstick to do something good. It’s unfortunate that these things are happening, but that’s the reality, so what can we do about it? Doing this sort of thing is what we need today, and I think it’s so beautiful.

After people buy the t-shirt, what more can they do to support the cause? How can we show up for the dolls and protect all trans people?

Conner Ives: This is a conversation I feel like we’re having daily. I get a lot of allies asking me, ‘What can I ask my trans friends, to learn how to support them?’ And to be totally honest, that’s not their job. We can do our own work that doesn’t rely on our trans friends telling us what charities to give to. A lot of times it can be having a date or a lunch or a cocktail with your girlfriends, asking them how they are, how is their day going? This is really where I want to see this movement going. This isn’t performative activism, if you don't make it performative activism. I think that it can be as simple as just being a friend. 

Why now, in particular, is this collaboration and partnership so important?

 Conner Ives: We’re seeing every day the rights of trans people [being eroded] at the hands of a government doing it for their own political gain. They will continue to erode away at fundamental American rights in ways that defy our Constitution. I think we’re all watching aghast. So maybe buying the t-shirt is a great first step to figuring out how you can support the community more, even through the charities that we’re working with, the Trevor Project and Mermaids. The work that they’re doing is really essential to taking this movement forward. 

I think the conversation is a great place to start. And the more that we can normalise this conversation and not make it feel like our sisters and family are others and not related to us, I think the sooner we can get to a future in which we don’t have to have this conversation anymore. Because we have more visibility, we have more understanding around what this community needs.

Nicola Formichetti: We love the dolls, they’re such a part of the fashion and beauty industry throughout the years, and it’s so crazy what’s happening, that all their rights are being taken away. So yeah, it’s a great conversation starter but I think it’s very important that, individually, we look into what else we can do. I think what Conner did, starting this huge conversation, is great but we have to keep going and do amazing things together, and do fabulous things together.

The MAC Silky Matte VIVA GLAM x Conner Ives 'Protect the Dolls' Lipstick and MAC VIVA GLAM x Conner Ives 'Protect the Dolls' Shirt will be available online in the UK and US on 29 March 2026. Read more about how to support trans people here.