“It was humbling,” Mr. Ford, 40, said of trying on that early T-shirt, which was made in Los Angeles with cotton grown in the United States. “It was the beginning of 50 iterations,” he added.

The designer Conner Ives hoped to do some good with his “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt. Worn by celebrities, and sold out online, the shirts are raising money for a trans cause.