London Queer Fashion Show 2022: A Sanctuary of Self-Expression
Words and photos by Zoe Schulz
London Queer Fashion Show is a firm reminder that the LGBTQ+ community is overflowing with talent, artistry, and brilliance. Last month, after a three-year hiatus, the show felt like a secret sanctuary, a universe away from the binary, patriarchal expectations of the world. A space where the weight of societal pressure had lifted – and instead, you were welcomed in to explore your weirdness.
Fashion has always been a form of revolution, yet one look at today’s industry, and it feels this sentiment has been lost. Under the watchful eye of capitalism, mainstream fashion is overrun with exclusion and exploitation. But at its core, fashion is a form of self-expression, a medium for the freedom to show up wholly as yourself. With over one hundred models – all LGBTQ+ – London Queer Fashion Show was single-handedly able to reinstate the fact that fashion is for all of us, and that we all deserve to see ourselves and our identities mirrored on the catwalk.
With the theme of the show being rebirth, and the setting a high-ceiling ethereal church, there was an added feeling of transcendence; a connectivity between everyone congregated in devotion to queer creativity. Adding to this mood, the host, Queen MoJo, spoke with an electrifying presence on how we can all reclaim freedom through fashion and expression.
The evening featured twelve designers, a mix of established and emerging talent. Highlights included House of Narcissism, whose designs illuminate trans+ talent, hand-made lycra pieces by Yer Won, the upcycled, hand-painted punk-rock collection by Olli Hull and recent graduate Eliza Parla Gürocak whose collection was inspired by her hometown in Turkey.
STARS
The talent was amplified by performers: musician STARS and vogueing phenomena House of Dynasty. The models exemplified the limitless expressions of fashion, showcasing the diversity of beauty, including Paralympian Laurie Williams, LGBTQ+ campaigner Fox Fisher, musician Andrea di Giovanni, and influencer Tyreece. The evening ended with the audience being welcomed up to walk the runway themselves, a simple act that reinforced that this was a show where everyone was included.
Fox Fisher
“London Queer Fashion Show is a revolution from the runway that celebrates the unbridled joy of wearing clothes to express all the facets of our identity,” organisers of the event said of the evening. “We believe in style with no boundaries and expression in all its forms - dress, suit or other, clothing should not confine, but liberate.”
“London Queer Fashion Show is a community home for the fashion conscious, the disrupters, the rebels, the newbies and non-binary babies,” adds Chloe Davies, their Community Lead. “It is a place to express yourself in the fullness of you, make new friends and celebrate fashion our way, loud, proud and unapologetically!!”
The word resilience is often thrown around in relation to queer identities. We are told we are strong, brave, and fierce: for doing something as simple as existing. Yet this feels vapid, a lazy admission that we exist in a world content on crushing us into a mould we do not fit.
The key point that is often missed is that our resilience is reactionary, that society wants our identities and self-expression muted. What London Queer Fashion Show has created is a space to turn that shame on its head – to lean into our differences. There is an expectation with resilience that it has a certain toughness, but it can also be gentle, creative, and exploratory. These designers show that innovation and revolution go hand in hand; that imagination also plays a part in resistance and rebellion.
London Queer Fashion Show sets a precedent for the importance of queer spaces and the creativity and vision they rebirth. The show stood out as a love letter: both to queerness and fashion. A reminder that fashion belongs to all of us. Queer people are not the inspiration, we are not the mood board or a passing trend; we are the blueprint, and we belong on the catwalk.
Zoe Schulz