Butch cowboys, queer cyberpunks, transmasculine heartthrobs and global politics were center stage at the Brooklyn Museum on Thursday for DapperQ’s 10th annual fashion show. The event, which debuted in 2016, coincides with the start of New York Fashion Week.
The theme of this year’s event was queer resistance amid rising censorship. Anita Dolce Vita — the editor-in-chief of DapperQ, a gender-inclusive digital fashion magazine, and the executive producer of its annual runway show — said the theme was inspired by the current political climate, which has seen a rise in anti-LGBTQ extremism, a decline in funding for queer nonprofits and widespread censorship of queer art.
“Right now, it is a very scary time,” she said. “But we’re not going anywhere, and Brooklyn Museum, as an institution, has our back.”
The show’s runway became a stage for this resistance, with dozens of models from seven queer-led fashion brands captivating onlookers with their defiant joy and statement-making looks.
Mila Jam, a self-described “artivist and trans super star,” walked for BoiPKG, flaunting a flowing gown in the colors of the transgender pride flag. She said showing up as herself authentically and using her talent for storytelling is the most powerful tool she has to “encourage people to make space” for queer people both in and beyond the world of fashion.
“The LGBTQ community is a group of innovators,” she said. “We are the tastemakers of a lot of things in society, and we’re too often in the background. We create these elements, and we’re not always highlighted in the foreground.”
Shareef Hadid Jenkins, the Black nonbinary designer behind BoiPKG, highlighted this sentiment in their collection using bold colors and larger-than-life silhouettes. In this political environment, Jenkins said, they’re not holding back on their designs, which they see as a means of resistance.
“They’re trying so hard to get rid of us,” Jenkins said of conservative lawmakers’ policies regarding the Black and LGBTQ communities. “But it’s impossible, because no matter what, Black is in every color.”
That boldness was apparent in many of the models who walked the runway, including Jari Jones. Jones walked for Soid Studios, founded by designer Jose González, in a structured black gown, matching faux-fur coat and dramatic black-and-white makeup reminiscent of that worn by the band Kiss. She reflected what the night was about: existing unapologetically.
“I have chosen to be loved out loud. I have chosen to not dilute myself in a way that lets people digest me,” she said. “You don’t have to bend to get ahead in this world. You can absolutely be authentic and absolutely be genuine and still be successful.”
Fi Black, founder of fashion brand DykeMint, had some advice to offer queer folks during this politically turbulent time: “Marry your first love. Get your first divorce.”
Black and their wife, Lita, who now co-runs the brand, got engaged in March and tied the knot in April, all while designing and creating their Butches Contain Multitudes collection, which was on view Thursday. Their runway looks featured collaged elements, bright colors, vibrant beading and recycled regality.
“Butchness gives a different perspective of masculinity, like color and texture, and it’s dyke minted, minted by dykes. And so, with Butches Contain Multitudes, we have all of this storytelling through texture, color and composition. There’s no real through line, because it’s about finding the clothes and then seeing if we’re going to subvert this history or are we going to expand upon it,” Fi Black said.
Lita Black added, “Fashion is political. Queerness is political, and joy is political.”
DykeMint’s pièce de résistance, a pink blazer with “I want a dyke for president” emblazoned on the back, embodied that notion.
Dolce Vita, who has been at the helm of DapperQ’s queer fashion shows from the beginning, said the bottom line is this: “Fashion is political.” In addition to several ensembles that had political writing, the message “Free Palestine” popped up on a TV screen before the models took to the runway.
“It [fashion] can be used as a form of self-expression and joy, but it is also commonly used as a means of oppression and keeping people in their boxes,” she said. “Queer style, in particular, trans style, really is a form of resistance that offers an opportunity for everyone — regardless of their identity, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their gender presentation — to be free and dress in the way that most affirms themselves.”
