Latest news with #queerfashion
CBC
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
2SLGBTQ+ Winnipeggers embrace vintage and thrift fashion for self-expression
Double knits, bright colours, pant sets and polyester jumpsuits — when it comes to queer fashion, anything should go. That's the advice of three Winnipeggers who have leaned into fashion and style, and particularly vintage clothes, as a way to express their identity and sexuality. "It can really allow for an individual to present themselves in a way that matches how they feel on the inside," said Michael Duchon, co-owner of Vantage Vintage in Winnipeg's Exchange District. "I know thrifting has really played a big role in allowing gender diverse people to really express themselves." His boutique opened in 2017 and bills itself as a safe space for 2SLGBTQ+ shoppers. Moss Queen, a non-binary and gender fluid creative in Winnipeg, has also jumped on the vintage wagon too. "The queer community has always been involved in influencing fashion," they said. "I really do like vintage pieces. I many focus on colour palettes and textures," said Queen, who opened up their closet in a new short video by CBC's Creator Network. Taleigha Joseph did the same. Joseph has a healthy collection of circa 1960s and 1970s multi-patterned and brightly coloured dresses, some with the telltale big collars of those decades. "I feel like when people look at me, they're like, 'yeah, she's a little fruity.…' And I like that," said Joseph. "I want people to know that I am gay." "Don't dress to impress anybody else," Duchon recommends. "Do it for yourself. And this doesn't just go for queer people, it goes for a lot of different self-identifying groups of people." You can hear more from Duchon, Joseph and Queen in the new video, created in honour of Pride Month by Bridget Clemente, Evan Rivard, Chaira Plaga, and Caryl Jazz Cruz as part of CBC's Creator Network.
Vogue
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Celebrating 5 Years of K.ngsley, the NYC Brand Built on an All-Gender-Friendly, Queer-Positive, Body-Inclusive Tank Top
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, all of this taught Gbadegesin a third vital lesson (and aspiring designers everywhere, take note): You can go pretty far with your own label when you begin with one brilliant hero product. The tank he created in 2020 off the back of the one he'd customized for himself was the perfect item at the perfect time: Instagrammable, all-gender-friendly, queer-positive, sex-positive, body-inclusive, and just downright cool. Oh, and relatively affordable, at $180. More than that, it was entirely authentic to who Gbadegesin is, and to his world. That tank is still a bestseller, and in the time since launching it. he has seen his customer base go from about 90/10% men to women to around 75/25% women to men. 'I've always done it for the girls,' he said of his clothing, 'and for me, the girls are biological women, trans women, gays…but I definitely think there is this innate female energy to what I do, and I feel like [what I do] can be a safe space for them too.' That one piece spawned annual collections—acts, he calls them—delivered twice a year that feel grounded in quotidian reality (shirting, denim, polo shirts, T-shirt dressing), but which have been cleverly and imaginatively elevated by slashing, paneling, juxtaposing, and contrasting—and all with a celebration of an individual's body, gender, and sexuality, which have been complemented with other categories, from workwear boots to sunglasses and jewelry. I first saw Gbadegesin's work at a group runway show held on the Dumbo waterfront in Brooklyn one steamy Saturday evening the summer of 2022, and I was impressed: The clothing—sexily athletic—had a hint of the urban urgency of Helmut Lang (and as a Lang megafan, I do not make that comparison lightly). Madison Voelkel/ That tank is still a bestseller, and in the time since launching it. he has seen his customer base go from about 90/10% men to women to around 75/25% women to men. 'I've always done it for the girls,' he said of his clothing, 'and for me, the girls are biological women, trans women, gays…but I definitely think there is this innate female energy to what I do, and I feel like [what I do] can be a safe space for them too.' Madison Voelkel/ I first saw Gbadegesin's work at a group runway show held on the Dumbo waterfront in Brooklyn one steamy Saturday evening the summer of 2022, and I was impressed: The clothing—sexily athletic—had a hint of the urban urgency of Helmut Lang (and as a Lang megafan, I do not make that comparison lightly). Then, an off-season, off-schedule show in a club in Bushwick last fall affirmed both what he had to say and what he is capable of. There were cotton poplin button-downs cut wide and scissored short over his androgynous jeans; boxer briefs turned into shorts; cotton shirtdresses with open, draped backs; and bias-banded dresses with some serious slink going on. And in that way in which you can always sense an up-and-coming designer is connecting, the audience, who came wearing his designs, looked as effortlessly terrific as the models who walked through the crowd.
