"Push the ideas and then draw a way in."
Pat McGrath once told me that; such resistance and persistence enabled her to become the most in-demand makeup artist in the world. Recently, her namesake product line hit £1 billion in sales, making her the first African American woman to do so.
Being the first at something, especially in the fashion industry, means more when the pioneer comes from a marginalised community. It means someone cultivated change in a space where newness wasn't encouraged or welcomed. The fashion industry has seen an internal reckoning in recent seasons; diversity of all kinds is flourishing, and once-hushed voices are now being heard. But that's also exactly what has those on the inside and out are so afraid: that it will be just a blip in time, a fad.
That's not stopping the LGBTQ+ community, however. More LGBTQ+-identifying and gender-fluid designers are binding together to create the change they want to see in the business. Especially during Fashion Month, we've seen the genesis of new brands that hold radical inclusivity and diversity at its core — and they're penetrating the luxury fashion sector. To name a few: Luar, Nihl, Kenneth Nicholson, Alessandro Trincone, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, and Patrick Church. We've spoken to a few of those brands ahead on what their labels add to the current market, how gender identity and expression have contributed (or not) to their brand's ethos, and if, ultimately, queerness has found its place in high fashion.
We're not talking a Pride collection or a slogan tee here - no. The brands in the slideshow ahead are what you don't see when already-established fashion houses start to dip their toes in the waters of how different the future of fashion could look like. They're the brands that reflect what fashion looks like now.
Welcome to MyIdentity. The road to owning your identity is rarely easy. In this yearlong program, we will celebrate that journey and explore how the choices we make on the outside reflect what we’re feeling on the inside — and the important role fashion and beauty play in helping people find and express who they are.
Nihl(Neil Grotzinger)
What is your brand's ethos?
"My brand revolves around the subversion of masculine stereotypes. Every collection I develop starts with a series of social archetypes that penetrate the concept of the fictitious masculine. It’s all about dissection, manipulation, and transformation of a very socially antiquated idea of what it means to be a male in the 21st century."
How has your gender identity or expression, and/or sexual identity or expression, played into the development of your label?
"Growing up gay in a small town in Colorado definitely made me feel like an outsider who didn’t relate to any form of masculine assimilative culture, which is kind of where my voice as a designer comes from. I like critiquing masculine power structures as a gay person because it feels like a demystification of all of the worlds that I never had access to and never wanted to be a part of. My hope is that other queer people will relate to and want to embody this narrative."
What is your observation of the cultural shift the fashion industry is having right now, and whether that has to do with sexuality, gender or diversity? Is it a fad?
"I think with every cultural movement in fashion, there will be a plethora of different people who try to 'seize the moment' and gain something from whatever is happening. That’s kind of what we are experiencing right now in relation to the gender and identity movements. There are plenty of people that have a real message and speak from personal experience. I think it’s great to see just how deep into the conversation designers are willing to go.
"It’s the work that rests on the surface that feels a bit boring to me. I suppose it’s to be expected, but I just worry that people will start to forget about the actual importance of queer fashion because of the redundancies of the trend that has emerged as a result."
What will it take for mainstream brands to embrace what yours and so many emerging labels do? Do we even want that?
"In order for mainstream labels to embrace the actual content that queer fashion designers are starting to develop, I think they have to look beyond the surface of what gender, identity, and self-expression [are].
"Plenty of mainstream labels have a bit of stock in this idea of 'ephemeral menswear' or 'gender neutrality', but I find it hard to appreciate what these labels are doing if it doesn’t have some sort of content or message. Fashion is all about lived experience, so if larger fashion labels are willing to go deeper into the queer lifestyle and discover what it really means to go against heteronormative societal rules, there is the potential to add to this dialogue. My fear, however, is that it will all become commercialised and feed back into the status quo."
What does your brand offer in this space that no one else does?
"My brand offers queer people an opportunity to critique the world around them through socially engaged self-expression. Everything I design is embedded with symbolic garment details and structures that relate back to masculine cultures, which I’ve previously felt isolated from. It’s a way of taking something out of context and transforming it into its queer counterpart, which is intended to fuel a culture of liberated rejection."
Has queerness found its place in high-fashion? If so or if not, why?
"I think queerness is slowly starting to break its way into the high-fashion dialogue, but I want to see it taken further. Smaller, independent brands seem to have the most power in fashion right now because young designers have something to say, which is really throwing off the structure of the fashion industry. As a result, it’s becoming much easier for queer designers to make their message heard, and now that the messages of the queer fashion community are starting to resonate, I think more people are beginning to take it seriously. I’m just excited to see where it goes."
Kenneth Nicholson
What is your brand's ethos?
"At the core of the brand lies my passion to create beauty, specifically beautiful menswear. Beauty comes in a vast array of elements both soft and hard, light and dark. Centuries of menswear have expressed beauty without limiting the wide range of silhouettes and techniques available to them, and we, now in the modern era, should allow men the permission to express themselves in the same manner without ridicule or restrictions.
"We now find ourselves in an era in which menswear consists of a few options: pants, shorts and shirts. With my 'Lover From The Bath' collection, there is lace on collars and cuffs and delicate cloth-covered buttons. There are tunics, ribbon sashes, ornamental jeweled buttons, as well as hard canvases and heavy denims with velvet, gilded crows. To me, this is truly what menswear today is lacking as it steeps itself in its own limitations bound in labels, which no longer reflect the vast majority of our current society."
What is your observation of the cultural shift the fashion industry is having right now, and whether that has to do with sexuality, gender or diversity? Is it a fad?
" As a Black, male child growing up in the South, I think the visuals of beauty and the idea of what was often touted as pleasantly beautiful seemed to always linger in the distance. For me, whether it was seeing the beauty in freshly snipped flowers on a dining table, a ribbon in the hair of a girl that sat in front of me in Sunday school and the lace details in her yellow tulle dress, or the opulence of an orchestra led by an opera singer belting the most tragically beautiful song in a floor-length gown, this imagery struck me. It struck me as not only beautiful but also non-gendered.
"Being that I was so compulsively inspired by elements, which were somehow wrought in expressions of femininity, definitely set me on a path to be at odds with elders and peers. Additionally, as a Black, straight male in the midst of traditional Southern culture, being told my leanings were out of step always seemed to keep a wedge between me and the full range of access to sartorially and artistically self-express. When designing for collections and conceptualizing brand imagery, the recurring goal is to move the brand into the future while keeping a stronghold on what we've started, but also placing elements that are often idealized as feminine and positioning them in direct proximity of the Kenneth Nicholson man."
What is your observation of the cultural shift the fashion industry is having right now, and whether that has to do with sexuality, gender or diversity? Is it a fad?
"I'm hopeful that the shift we're seeing is authentic. It's my observation that usually enduring changes have their genesis at a grass roots level. Very rarely do ideas that come into common practice, especially those which edify the public, begin with the trickle down theory. With this being the case, I don't think we're merely experiencing a trend. I believe we're experiencing a shift."
What will it take for mainstream brands to embrace what yours and so many emerging labels do? Do we even want that?
"Mainstream brands will have to embrace what society is evolving into to meet the demands of their customer base. Foundations of what generations past deemed the standard are being challenged as the voice of the new generation begins to shift into positions of highest authority and influence. The baton is being passed in a momentous way and those who don't expand with culture will eventually become irrelevant.
"I would, however, like to see mainstream brands stay true to the purity of the content being expressed and not utilizing it in any way that's inauthentic of the culture."
What does your brand offer in this space that no one else does?
"As an emerging designer, I understand that there are many traditions and established foundations that have been laid before me. It’s a duty to be able to speak to that through my design process. Techniques like bias cutting, draping, slash-and-spread, to name a few, are all techniques that I look forward to utilizing for the type of garments I seek to construct. My lived experience, my perspective, and expression are extremely unique. Altogether, the spirit of Kenneth Nicholson offers a fresh vision forward, guided by respect and discipline of the craft."
Has queerness found its place in high-fashion? If so or if not, why?
"The idea of embracing gender fluidity has been around in the fashion industry for some time now and seems to be garnering more attention. It seems as with each new generation there’s a bigger inhale, so to speak, which results in an even greater exhale of new ideas and inclusion. So while there are more images of nontraditional binary brands and models [coming up], I think it’s still the beginning of a chapter."
Patrick Church
What is your brand's ethos?
"Sensuality should not be reserved for the feminine. When opened up to the possibilities of beauty in contrast, we explore a broader range of emotion. That’s where we want to live."
How has your gender identity or expression, and/or sexual identity or expression, played into the development of your label?
"My work is autobiographical, even when I'm painting someone else I'm always painting myself. The fashion I create is always something I want to wear. There has always been a sort of self-medication to my self-expression. I paint on everything because I have to paint. When it isn't canvas, it's clothing or furniture. The development of the label came when I moved to New York — and for the first time, had the clarity to add structure to my compulsion."
What is your observation of the cultural shift the fashion industry is having right now, and whether that has to do with sexuality, gender or diversity? Is it a fad?
"As designers, we shape the perceptions of the world. We empower generations, we empower change — and it's a sacred responsibility. It's our obligation to mold an industry that is better than the one we inherit."
What will it take for mainstream brands to embrace what yours and so many emerging labels do? Do we even want that?
"Institutions thrive on stability and can lack the emotional voice required to recognize change. Gucci's stance on sustainability, going fur-free, and diversity is incredible, but this year, it came alongside an ad campaign stylizing protests. We try so hard to dissect what others do, but I'm really just trying to maintain a safe space for me to continue doing my work."
What does your brand offer in this space that no one else does?
"In America, people love to define things. I've been called a 'punk', which must mean something different outside of London. To be honest, I don't think about what I offer as something that is missing in the market; it didn't occur to do this when I started. I make things that represent me because it gives me strength to wear my emotions publicly. What I hope to offer is the courage for others to do the same."
Has queerness found its place in high-fashion? If so or if not, why?
"Queer people have always been a big part of the fashion industry, but the pressure to restrain ourselves to what is acceptable and tasteful should end. I know I live in my own bubble and three collections doesn't equate expertise, but my activism is voiced throughout my work by being unapologetically myself. The queerness exists. What we need is courage."
Christopher John Rogers
What is your brand's ethos?
"Creating clothes that champion the self and encourage new propositions for occasion and celebratory dressing."
How has your gender identity or expression, and/or sexual identity or expression, played into the development of your label?
"Trying to develop garments that address the constant flux of queerness — whether that be how you identify personally or how you adorn your body. Some days I might feel more ostentatious and some days I might feel a bit more reserved in my dress, so I’m interested in how clothes can serve that duality. Think: pragmatic extravagance."
What is your observation of the cultural shift the fashion industry is having right now, and whether that has to do with sexuality, gender or diversity? Is it a fad?
"There’s definitely a shift happening in terms of the visibility of underrepresented/marginalized people, and of course, sometimes it presents itself in the form of tokenism.
'Inclusion' and 'diversity' are trending right now, but I feel like there’s also a real opportunity to encourage permanence on that front by celebrating the excellence and hard work of those people. The more colorful the room is, the better everything is for everyone."
What will it take for mainstream brands to embrace what yours and so many emerging labels do? Do we even want that?
"I don’t even think we need every brand to embrace the idea of gender fluidity. Everything isn’t for everyone and it shouldn’t have to be."
What does your brand offer in this space that no one else does?
"A sense of 'enoughness' in the clothes. We also don’t ever lead with queerness or otherness as defining factors of the work — just sincere design for whomever is attracted to it."
Has queerness found its place in high-fashion? If so or if not, why?
"Queerness has always had a place in high fashion — YSL with Le Smoking, Gautier’s entire body of work — I just feel like, now, people are starting to crave queer work that allows for more nuance and honesty. Queerness is less about performing otherness as it is about the ability to define yourself for yourself without expectations; whatever that means to you."
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