Pencil sketch of an early ARX vest design dated 11/16/21, showing three views: front, back, and inside.

"Shrink it and Pink it: Gender Bias in Product Design"

Most personal protective equipment (PPE) wasn’t designed for women; it was adapted for them. The industry’s long-standing “shrink it and pink it” approach has treated women as an afterthought, not a starting point. And in environments where safety matters, that’s a problem. This ongoing gender bias in product design is an important issue to address. 

That’s why Kaitlin McCarthy and Hilary Gallin founded ARX PPE. Both worked in industries where wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) was required, and like many women, they were given gear designed for men and told it was “good enough.” But it wasn’t.

With backgrounds in engineering, construction, real estate development, medicine, and business, Kaitlin and Hilary approached the problem differently. Instead of resizing men’s gear, they started from scratch, designing PPE based on how women actually work and move on the job. Every product is shaped by real job-site feedback, not assumptions.

Shrink It and Pink It: Gender Bias in Product Design, by Karen Reuther

A Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative article, "Shrink It and Pink It: Gender Bias in Product Design" highlights how PPE has historically been built around a one-size-fits-all model, with little consideration for the unique needs of women in the workplace.

Female construction worker wearing a pink safety vest and hard hat on a job site

The "pink it and shrink it" approach refers to the practice of taking existing PPE designs meant for men and simply making them smaller and adding a feminine touch with pink accents. While this may seem like a quick fix, it does not address the fundamental differences in body shapes and sizes between men and women. This approach not only compromises the effectiveness of the protective gear but also perpetuates gender stereotypes. 

Kaitlin and Hilary didn’t set out to “shrink it and pink it.” They set out to fix it because if the starting point is wrong, no amount of shrinking or color changes will fix it.

Challenging the Status Quo with ARX

Two women wearing ARX high-visibility vests and white hard hats at construction site

At ARX, we’re not interested in adapting men’s gear. We’re building PPE from the ground up for women who actually wear it on real job sites. That means designing PPE for fit, movement, and function, not taking gear designed for men, scaling it down, adding a cosmetic change, and calling it a solution. Here's how we're doing it:

  • Research-driven design: Built with real data on how women work and move
  • Inclusive perspective: Designed by a team that understands the problem firsthand
  • Feedback-led development: Refined through real-world testing and user input
  • Education and Awareness: We actively raise awareness about gender bias in product design and challenge the “shrink it and pink it” mindset to advocate for better standards across the PPE industry
  • ANSI Compliance: Our Original Vest is designed to meet ANSI 107 standards, ensuring it performs where safety requirements matter most

Moving Beyond “Pink it and Shrink it.”

The conversation around gender bias and the development of products catered to women highlights a larger issue within gender bias: women have often been considered after the fact, rather than from the outset. 

Innovation doesn’t come from taking existing products and tweaking them to work “good enough.” It comes from rethinking products entirely for a new demographic. Ill-fitting PPE in industries like construction, manufacturing, and skilled trades is not just a comfort issue; it’s a matter of safety. 

ARX moves beyond the “shrink it and pink it” group to create products that prioritize fit and function for women in real-world careers where safety and comfort are critical for performance on the job. This shift is not only about creating better products for women, but about respect, equity, and raising the bar across the PPE industry. 

Conclusion:

The "shrink it and pink it" mentality doesn’t meet the demands of modern workplaces. At ARX, we’re focused on building gear that fits, performs, and supports women on the job, because no one does their best work in gear that was never designed for them in the first place. 

And while women want PPE gear that fits correctly, they also want to feel included and look like they fit in with other members of the team. Just because gear is made smaller for women doesn't mean that they need or want it to be pink. Our commitment to inclusivity, customization, and innovation ensures that our products stand out as a beacon of change in an industry that is long overdue for transformation.

Join us in breaking stereotypes and ushering in a new era of PPE design. Together, we can create a safer, more inclusive, and equal world for all. 

Explore PPE designed for women. 

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