VERGE Queer Fashion Show Takes Montreal, New York City, and Boston!

As part of an analysis and celebration of the ways in which art is utilized as visual activism to create positive sociopolitical change for LGBTQI communities, dapperQ, bklyn bohood, Posture Magazine, and DYDH Productions formed the VERGE partnership to showcase a total of eight independent designers whose work is systemically rooted in notions of gender nonconformity and its intersections with race, ethnicity, and culture. Featured collections were selectively chosen to embody the enigma of a vastly diverse aesthetic that is simultaneously chaotic and orderly. The viewer was invited to explore the question “What is queer style?” Designers included: MARKANTOINE, FONY, Jag & Co., SUNSUN, SAGA NYC, Lactic, KQK, and NotEqual.

VERGE New York Fashion Week Show from J. Lufair on Vimeo.

VERGE presented in three different cities. The first stop was Montreal, where we took to the runways at the Montreal Fashion and Design Festival (MFDF) under the leadership of executive producers DYDH.

VERGE at MFDF

Following MFDF, VERGE coordinated the largest queer New York Fashion Week runway show, executive produced by dapperQ. Perfectly timed on the closing night of NYFW, over 70 models who challenge traditional gender constructs took center stage, including celebrity models Rain Dove (the most cast female model during the inaugural Men’s NYFW) and Ryley Rubin Pogensky (one of 17 trans-identified models in the groundbreaking Barneys New York ad campaign shot by Bruce Weber.) Melanie Gaydos, as well as Prince Harvey, the hip hop artist who secretly recorded an album at an Apple store, were just some of the many other prominent models who dominated the runway. The event was a who’s who of gender queer style trendsetters, with singer and designer Margeaux Simms, and celebrity androgynous models Elliott Sailors and Harmony Boucher, among the VIP guests at the show. The event was emceed by trans-activist Tiq Milan, named by Ebony magazine as a top 10 LGBT trailblazer. Runway direction was provided by Colette Lee Productions, with a hair and makeup team led by Colette Lee and Jonathan Retzkin.

Tiq Milan. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

FONY. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

MARKANTOINE. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

Jag & Co. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

SUNSUN. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

SAGA NYC. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

Lactic. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

KQK. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

NotEqual. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

Blogger Aja Aguirre (left), model Elliott Sailors (center) and VERGE Executive Producer Anita Dolce Vita (right). Photo by Alyssa Meadows

Singer and designer Margeaux Simms. Photo by Alyssa Meadows

Models Harmony Boucher and Elliott Sailors. Via Elliott Sailors’ Instagram

VERGE Executive Producers, Anita Dolce Vita & Deeba Zivari. Photo by Katya Moorman/Karen L. Dunn

VERGE’s last stop was the Institute of Contemporary Art, where the collective, under the leadership of executive producers dapperQ, featured a nine designer, multimedia fashion presentation that included Qwear, MARKANTOINE, FONY, Jag & Co., SUNSUN, SAGA NYC, Lactic, KQK, and Sir New York.

Qwear presentation. Photo by Alli Gofman

SUNSUN presentation. Via @livlinear Instagram

Sir New York presentation. Photo by Alli Gofman

Sir New York presentation. Photo by Alli Gofman

Sir New York presentation. Photo by Robyn Towle

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