CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top![thestreetsensei_80279.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201662%202494'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![thestreetsensei_80209.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201691%202536'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![thestreetsensei_80189.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%202048%203071'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![thestreetsensei_70745.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201920%202880'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![thestreetsensei_80363.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201367%202051'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![hesta_by_hester_sunshine_1.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201643%202465'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![thestreetsensei_80365.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201599%202398'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![freeman_by_mickey_1.jpg](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201784%202676'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Inside DapperQ’s Groundbreakingly Queer NY Fashion Week Show
Since its very start, the fashion industry has been created and run by queer designers. Just look to some of the greats -- Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Olivier Rousteing, Marc Jacobs, the late Alexander McQueen, the late Halston -- for reference.
The irony, perhaps, is that it's also an industry that rarely highlights any sense of queerness. Queer website DapperQ's annual runway show sets out to change that.
Entitled Bloom in partnership with Brooklyn Museum and sponsored by Transguy Supply and Meow Wolf, DapperQ's show is one that celebrates queer designers and their queer clothing, exploring a world where fashion falls into more than two binaries because, in reality, it does.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
"A piece of fabric is not gendered. We assign that meaning to it," DapperQ creator Anita Dolce Vita says as she makes herself scarce backstage on Thursday night, giving room to the eight designers and over 70 models getting ready to take up space.
They step out and step in, out of boxes created for them, into new realities they're creating for themselves. Realities that reside on the third floor of the Brooklyn Museum with hundreds of people, whooping and cheering, affirming that this show means freedom to them, too.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
LLESSUR NYC models glide, effortless but striking, using the runway to bend and shift in ways only Russell Peguero's designs allow. Those of Devonation ooze romance and whimsy, while models of THUY Custom Clothier flaunt sharp lines and tailored suiting. Stuzo highlights loud prints and colored fur. One model slips out of slinky, opera-length gloves, revealing a message -- "Protect Trans Kids" -- written on their forearms.
"Fashion is a form of self-expression," Stuzo founder and designer Stoney Michelli says backstage, a veteran of DapperQ's seventh annual show. "It's anything you want it to be, wherever your wildest imagination can go."
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
"When I was younger, if I had seen this representation, it might have catapulted me into this business a little quicker," they add (their designs are now worn by A-list actress Lena Waithe).
Hesta by Hester Sunshine's models strut in three words: fiery, red, plaid. Miniskirts, mini shorts, and vests meet clunky boots, some dripping in chains. Transguy Supply grants the crowd a show in tees and skin-tight briefs, giving cheeky a whole new meaning. LANDEROS NEW YORK plays with a white, black, and neon color palette, emphasizing angular cutouts. Freeman by Mickey marries rainbow with leather, each look building up to the designer's iconic finale -- a kiss of fervor shared between two models.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
"For many years, [queer] designers and [designers] of color, especially in the United States, were seemingly overlooked," LANDEROS designer Andre Landeros Michel says. "This is the place where we are completely free to showcase our work."
But queer fashion is more than an escape from normativity. As Dolce Vita says, "it's a tool for rebellion. It's a means for liberation."
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
And what's better, it's an invitation for others to take part, like disabled and queer model Julian Gavino, whom some might know from his stint on Project Runway.
"It's not often that you see disabled models on the runway, and disabled and queer -- we usually really have to fight for our space in the fashion world," he says, assuring that this space is one of inclusivity.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
With music blasting, drinks flowing, and crowds of queer folks bumping along, DapperQ's fashion show is entertainment and flare threaded with unapologetic inclusivity, a fashion week rarity. It's revolutionary in an industry idolized for its revolutions.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
But lest we forget, queer designers created the mold we call "fashion." They will be the ones to change it.
Photo courtesy of @TheStreetSensei.
RELATED | Meet Zana Bayne, the Leather Brand That Made Your Fave Celeb's Harness
Latest Stories
All the 'Drag Race' queens on OnlyFans (& what they're showing)
July 23 2024 4:19 PM
38 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
July 23 2024 2:33 PM
20 Steamy Pics of 'Drag Race' Pit Crew Members Around the World
July 11 2024 11:40 AM
15 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
July 09 2024 11:33 AM
26 LGBTQ+ reality dating shows & where to watch them
July 03 2024 4:21 PM
10 most-followed 'RuPaul's Drag Race' queens on Instagram
July 01 2024 3:35 PM
Breckenridge, Colorado’s 10-Mile Pride is an unexpected haven of queer joy
June 30 2024 10:36 PM
Here are all the out, LGBTQ+ 'Real Housewives' cast members
June 27 2024 3:26 PM
18 times male celebrities had to say they weren't gay
June 21 2024 2:58 PM
45 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
June 18 2024 4:45 PM
15 pics of 'Drag Race' pit crew member Calixto Quan to make you swoon
June 14 2024 4:02 PM
Buh-Bye! These 12 LGBTQ-inclusive shows are ending in 2024
June 13 2024 1:38 PM
20 steamy pictures of 'Bros' & Hallmark stud Luke Macfarlane
June 13 2024 12:53 PM
21 out & proud LGBTQ+ country artists you should be listening to
June 10 2024 11:59 AM
Here’s where Airbnb Gen Z-ers are celebrating Pride
June 06 2024 4:55 AM
39 male celebs who did full frontal scenes
June 05 2024 9:37 AM
These pics prove that Maluma is still our supreme thirst trap king
May 22 2024 6:29 PM
28 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
May 22 2024 5:21 PM
6 of Jonathan Groff's best (and most iconic) gay roles
May 14 2024 12:16 PM
'Looking' cast: Where are they now?
May 14 2024 10:14 AM