It was never a dress: campaign to shift perceptions about women

Axosoft sponsored a girl's tech event, and in an effort to empower those girls and spark a conversation, they came up with the "It wasn't a dress" campaign.

You see it everywhere, always accepted as the universal sign of women until a Scottsdale software company decided to shake things up.

"Does it really signify women? She's in this stiff triangle dress, she looks uncomfortable, maybe she's holding in something. If that's the representation of women, perhaps that is why we don't feel really excited about who we are in the world," said Tania Katan.

Katan and co-worker Sara Breeding were brainstorming when they envisioned the image we often see on women's bathrooms as something else.

It's not a stiff A-Line dress, it's also the silhouette of a superhero's cape. and it was never a dress, was born.

"We knew it had the potential that other people could relate, but to see how quickly and organically people latched on to it," said Axosoft CEO Lawdan Shojaee.

The campaign not only caught fire at the tech conference, over the weekend it exploded and went viral and was trending on Twitter for several hours worldwide.

"This has become an international conversation, people are excited, riled up, and everything in between," said Shojaee.

The company created the website itwasneveradress.com to continue the conversation. Axosoft is selling t-shirts, stickets etc. with the supercape image on it. They plan to use any profits for scholarships to girls who want to major in technology.