Kris Bee Bacon: Meet The Man Behind The Playful Fashion Brand Made By & For LGBTQIA+ People
Image: Ann Marie Calilhanna
There’s nothing like wearing something a little bit cheeky, and there’s nothing like finding clothes that actually fit your body properly. A jockstrap designed with enough room for bears, or not too much room designed for trans masc wearers. Fashion that feels like it was actually made by people who understand queer life, instead of just slapping a rainbow on a logo every June and calling it a day.
That’s the world Kris Bee Bacon CEO and designer Daniel Beniston is building — one loudly queer and proudly Australian-made garment at a time.
Launched just over a year ago, Kris Bee Bacon has quickly carved out a niche for itself with tongue-in-cheek statement tees, colourful partywear and an expanding fashion universe designed specifically with LGBTQIA+ communities in mind. But underneath the queer humour, pop culture references and flirtatious slogans is something much more serious: a deep commitment to local manufacturing and genuine community consultation.
Beniston says the idea for the brand came after noticing a glaring gap in Australia’s fashion landscape.
“I saw there was a need in the marketplace in particular for Australian-made product,” he says. “You hear all the time that people should buy Australian made, but if nobody is actually doing it properly, then where’s the opportunity?”
Before launching Kris Bee Bacon, Beniston worked extensively in Olympic licensing and merchandise production, including projects tied to the Sydney Olympics and Rio 2016.
That career background shaped the meticulous approach he now brings to queer fashion — from hologram authenticity labels to the clothing’s quality and longevity, to plastic-free packaging.
From the moment people see the Kris Bee Bacon gondola in a store, or click on the website, or pick up a shirt, Daniel says the KBB team “want our brand to be elevated.”
KRISBEES: Kris Bee Bacon is growing and evolving
The brand’s expansion has been rapid.
There’s the main Kris Bee Bacon label, which Beniston describes as “a queer pop-up fashion house” full of “bold designs” and “icebreaker moments”. Fun graphic tees range from pop culture and proudly nerdy references – for example, the recent May the 4th special spotlighted the brand’s numerous Star Wars-related tees – to some incredible sexual puns and illustrations, to references and in-jokes only the queers would get, and much more. (My personal favourite: a tee that simply reads ‘POPPERS ARE FOR EVERYONE’. Take my money!)
Underneath KBB sits Dominus, a leather and erotic-inspired sub-brand exploring themes of “power, control and self-expression”.
Now, another new chapter is arriving: KRISBEES, the brand’s upcoming swimwear line — and it’s ambitious.
Rather than focusing solely on gay men’s swimwear, Beniston says the goal has been to create something genuinely inclusive across genders, body types and identities.
“It’s more than just being a gay guy making gay swimwear for men,” he says. “We’re making swimwear for everyone.”
The new collection – which is launching in less than a week – includes swimwear, kimonos and caftans made locally in Australia, with production taking place in Sydney using local pattern makers and designers.
One standout upcoming release includes a collaboration with a First Nations queer artist whose artwork, titled Bubbles of Love, will appear across the new collection.
“She’ll receive a percentage of every product sold as well,” Beniston says. “It’s about representation. It’s about consultation.”
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Kris Bee Bacon develops products by listening to community needs
That consultation has become a major part of how Kris Bee Bacon develops products, and Beniston says community feedback directly inspires his designs.
“The lesbian groups that were visiting our store at Fair Day [were] going, ‘Where’s the shirt that says dyke on it?’” he laughs. “And we were like — you’re right, we’ll do one.”
The upcoming collections will also include adaptive ideas inspired by conversations with trans customers and plus-sized community members who have struggled to find products that fit properly elsewhere.
Beniston tells Star Observer that bears would tell him they ‘couldn’t get a jockstrap bigger than an XL’ – so they tested out sizes.
“We even tried some on people and thought, ‘holy shit, you’re right – we have to change that.’”
For Beniston, that’s ultimately what Kris Bee Bacon is about: creating fashion that doesn’t just market to queer people, but actively listens to them.
“It’s about having fun,” he says. But he says it’s also about being part of something bigger: “If we don’t work within our community and speak for our community, there won’t be a community.”
You can learn more about Kris Bee Bacon here.
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