(scene buzzing) (smooth jazzy music) - My name is Bao.

I am a bespoke cutter and tailor at K-zao Studio.

(smooth jazzy music continues) The name of the studio, K-zao comes from the word Ka Zao in Vietnamese, which means folk songs.

I think the first moment that I fell in love with fashion was looking at the way that my moms and my grandma dress to go to work.

They would dress up in this very well-tailored suit.

It's very inspiring.

It's very, like, a different kind of energy that she's giving when she's wearing that.

She looks very confident.

She's going out there in the world and getting s*** done.

(sewing machine rattling) People comes to us for an experience, and that is very different from getting clothes off the rack.

They would have the opportunity to be very mindful about what they're putting on their body.

I think that takes a lot of courage.

Is there a color theme that you and Avery are thinking about?

- We're leaning towards more, like, springtime colors, blues and greens.

So the project I'm gonna work on with Bao is we're gonna be, well, Bao is going to be making a suit for my wedding.

(relaxing music) I'm going to be having top surgery, so I think I'll finally feel really comfortable in formal clothes.

I'm definitely a little bit nervous.

- Can you raise your arms up for me, please?

- I think it'll be really exciting to just move around and go through my day.

- You can get as technical as you want through anything, but at the same time, the relationship that you have with other people is important as well.

- Being transmasculine, like, especially when you start doing hormone therapy, like, your body does change.

So for me anyway, more of the issue became around, like, what was comfortable and looked the way I wanted it to.

Until recently, I was never interested in formal wear at all, like having anything remotely related to that because it felt so, like, pushed on me as a kid to be very formal in a feminine way.

This quilt is really special because in my transition, the backing of this quilt is the last dress that I ever wore, and I actually only wore it once, and then I never wore it again, and then I ripped it up.

(ventilator humming) - I think the process that we are doing here is very slow.

We get to know every clients.

Before we measure anyone, it's good to just talk to them, get to know them as people, like who they are, why are they here.

Why they're here is a very hard questions for a lot of people to answer.

- Gender means to me something that's very innate and an integral part of your identity.

I remember I quit playing soccer when they changed us from co-ed soccer to all-girls soccer.

The binary separation of everything that starts to happen when you're, like, six, seven, eight can be really, really difficult.

- All I try to do interacting with clients is to give them all the time that they deserve, all the time that they should have got from all of the experience getting dressed, make sure that they are comfortable in presenting the image of themself that they feel most comfortable with.

For every commissions that we make, we'll meet with the clients upwards of four times.

After four meetings, now you're touching a lot of parts on their body and make sure that they are comfortable with the work that you're making for them.

- K-zao Studio, it's really focused on the individual person that comes in, and what they want, and what their vision is, which I really respect.

And it's also really focused on clothing that isn't gendered and isn't designed that way, which is really, really important, especially for the queer community.

(jacket rustling) (lighthearted music) - I think my least favorite part of working with a client is the last fitting, the delivery.

It's the first time that the clients see the work.

It's special, it's very emotional.

- For trans people, finding formal clothes is a more complicated process.

Bao creates the most amazing, perfect space to find those clothes and to have those clothes made in a beautiful, beautiful way.