It doesn’t take a PhD in psychology to understand why fashion and identity are so intrinsically linked. When we can’t control how others perceive us—a basic fact of life—what we wear, how we do our hair and makeup and how we present ourselves to the world are the elements we can control, and we think there’s a lot of solace in that. It’s no coincidence that style is the lens through which many, including the LGBTQ+ community, are first able to explore and express their identity.
In honour of that exploration, we sat down with five queer creatives whose résumés span everything from fashion design to artistic creation to just generally being fabulous on platforms like TikTok. Ahead, hear from them about their personal style journeys, get inspired by their aesthetics and see the stellar fashion buys they’re shopping for right now. Although we’re celebrating Pride Month now, let’s be clear that queer style and stories aren’t limited to one month—this is a year-round type of thing.
What does it mean to you to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community?
To me, being a part of this beautiful community is being a part of a family that just gets you. And as you grow, you find out that not everyone in the community will love you or be kind, but you can and will find folks who will.
What are you most excited about this Pride Month?
I’m always excited to see the looks, to see everyone go out in confidence in their fave looks! I love seeing people happy in their skin and living to the fullest.
As a model, it’s near impossible to extricate your identity and personhood from your career. How has being a member of this community impacted it, if at all?
Without my queer family and friends, I wouldn’t even feel confident enough to create the way I do. They fueled me to keep creating and told me I was good and worthy, even when I didn’t believe it.
Fashion, in recent years, has had a big push towards inclusivity and diversity. In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, how can the industry better serve these communities and move past performative allyship and “rainbow-washing”?
Pay Black trans women! Hire Black queer creatives and *pay* them! When you support folks with money and not exposure, that’s money that feeds us, houses us and allows us to further thrive and work. The rainbows are nice and all, but money in the pockets of queer folks is better (and hiring queer folks year-round, not only in June).
Style and beauty can be powerful tools for self-expression. What role do you think fashion has played in your life? Has your identity had an influence on your style at all?
Before I had the words to describe who I was or even what I felt, I had clothing. Fashion was one of the first ways I began to communicate myself on my own terms. It’s kept that role for me today, challenging people’s stereotypes of who I am and where I should belong and insisting on my individuality, my personality, my humanity. Fashion has helped me design my own sensibility in the world, root my feet more firmly on this earth and take up space.
Fashion, in recent years, has had a big push towards inclusivity and diversity. In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, how can the industry better serve these communities and move past performative allyship?
One way is to move from just symbolic gestures towards making structural shifts. It’s about being proactive rather than reactive. This is why I started the #DeGenderFashion campaign a few years ago. It’s one thing to make an LGBTQ capsule collection; it’s another to understand that clothes have no inherent gender. People should be able to determine what clothes mean to them, not fashion and advertising industries. I’d love the industry to move away from “women’s clothes” and “men’s clothes” and just offer… clothes.
How can someone be a more supportive ally?
It’s about centring the leadership of LGBTQ people. I think so often we mistake looking at or experiencing LGBTQ culture as the political ask. We have to push further. It’s about investing in the leadership of LGBTQ people—especially trans and gender-nonconforming people—so we can be decision-makers and actually shift the industry.
What does it mean to you to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community?
I feel really hopeful for LGBTQ+ youth. Every generation paves the way for future generations to live their lives more authentically. I’m excited to see more spaces created where all LGBTQ+ members are welcome.
Style and beauty can be powerful tools for self-expression. What role do you think fashion has played in your life?
Fashion is the perfect icebreaker. I love meeting new people, and even though it’s scary or anxiety inducing at times, I love to use fashion as a signal to let others know I am open to them and vice versa. The first thing I say to a stranger that I find interesting is a compliment about what they’re wearing. It’s a great conversation starter.
How has being a member of this community impacted your career, if at all?
Being a gay designer and only having female friends helps me to design clothing for all femmes. I try to listen while also creating a fun fantasy for us to participate in.
As a model and digital creator, your career is inevitably intertwined with your identity. How has being a member of this community impacted your career, if at all?
It has majorly impacted my career. I don’t think my work would look like it does if I wasn’t a non-binary, queer person. It’s brought me to so many creative folks who have shared experiences and experiences I’m unfamiliar with. I think that for a long time it felt like my identity was perhaps a hindrance in my advancement in the industry. These days, that feels less so, but it can still be a hurdle.
One of the things I enjoy about perusing your feed is discovering a new-to-me brand. For instance, you introduced me to Wray! Are there any fashion brands you see as being truly inclusive and celebratory of this community?
Chromat is a perennial favourite. They have consistently supported their community—LGBTQ+ folks—in the entirety of their existence as well as being size inclusive long before it was “on-trend.”
I’m obsessed with your hilarious TikTok videos and spot-on rants. What advice would you give to younger people who want to become more confident in themselves?
I see confidence as a way of being, like something you can feel, and like most feelings, it changes and fluctuates as you go about life. It’s completely natural for us to feel more confident in certain situations more than others. But ultimately, I think embodying confidence is truly about being completely and 100% comfortable with the being that you are. Once you get to that level, there’s nothing other people can say or do that will affect you. So I say go out there and stop focusing on what others do or don’t think about you and ask yourself, What do you think about yourself?
What are some pieces of clothing that make you feel like the best version of yourself?
When I want to feel myself a little more than usual, I like to use clothing as a way to build a fantasy for myself. So something like a heel or a bag can really transport me to another dimension. While wearing them, I am able to channel all of the powerful women that I’ve admired for the whole of my life. Now, it’s my turn to strut down the street and make people’s heads turn as I make a halt to whip out my gloss from my bag and touch up my lips! (Yes, I live my life in an incredibly cinematic way.)
Fashion, in recent years, has had a big push towards inclusivity and diversity in general. I’m curious to know if there are any fashion brands, in particular, you see as being truly inclusive and celebratory of this community?
Do I know any truly 100% queer-inclusive fashion brands out there? No. Something that every single brand I know does is gender all of their clothing. And until a brand has let go of these constructs, none of them will be truly inclusive of all queer and trans entities out there. This said, I have seen brands like Savage X Fenty and Mugler represent us on the runway, but very rarely does it go beyond that.
This story originally appeared on Who What Wear U.S. Up next, these are the brands that are supporting the plus-size fashion community.
