Fashion Designing | Famous Fashion Designers

Fashion designing is the art of incorporating design, aesthetics, and innate beauty into apparel and accessories. Though, fashion is not just mere clothes but an effort to give the user confidence, comfort, and style. Every person has a different taste and style associated with their personality. Through this incredible form of art and aesthetics, you are liberated, not only given a medium to cover your body. Famous Fashion designers analyze situations and design clothes for every occasion. The same clothes you wear at home, won’t be appropriate to wear on a red carpet. A lot of hard work, thought process and design thinking goes by famous fashion dedigners into making every little piece of clothing you wear.

Fashion for all

Understanding and accepting yourself the way you are is a time-taking process. It doesn’t happen over time and people around you affect a lot of your thinking and the way you react. The queer community has made great progress toward acceptance. Although the road is far from done, the rewards are already beginning to appear. You can tell when major brands advance when they start producing unisex clothing, clothing for all body types, or when they stop separating particular colors into genders.

10 famous queer fashion designers 

  • Gianne Versace

Versace is a brand that makes you feel luxurious just by the name of it. One of the designers behind this was a creative head born in Italy. Gianni liberated fashion from traditionalism and infused it with originality and imagination. He is still regarded as a key figure in the history of fashion. His clothes are a class-apart.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet1
Versace Fashion Looks_ ©Tumblr (collage by author)
  • Tom Ford | Famous Fashion Designers

The man who grew up in Texas and is one of the most well-known fashion designers in the world, the man who brought Gucci from bankruptcy to a billion-dollar asset value: Tom Ford. He was initially an architect, then to give direction to his love for sketching, designing, and styling he got into the fashion industry. 

Tom said, “I’m an equal opportunity objectifier–I’m just as happy to objectify men,” he then added, “The thing is, you can’t show male nudity in our culture in the way you can show female nudity. We’re very comfortable as a culture exploiting women, but not men.” Ford proved his argument by including the first-ever full-frontal nude male model in a fragrance commercial in 2002, which was later removed from publications due to outrage. It was described by Ford as “academic nakedness.”

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet2
September Collection 2016_ ©Elle (collage by author)
  • Saul Nash 

Saul Nash designs athletic clothing that is tailored and shaped to allow for unrestricted movement. His designs use movement and performance to dispel common misconceptions about sportswear and the men who wear it. He was a choreographer earlier which influenced his fashion design to be full of movement and expression.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet3
Saul Nash – Twist AW21 Collection_©The Fashionography (collage by author)
  • Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacob is from New York and is termed as one of Time magazine’s 50 most powerful people and ranked #14 on Out magazine’s list of the 50 most influential LGBT persons in America.

Marc used his fame for good in 2009 when he introduced a line of shirts calling for the legalization of gay marriage. Marc has demonstrated to the entire world that LGBT designers are capable of achieving greatness with the help of other celebrities like Kate Moss and Miley Cyrus.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet4
Marc Jacobs – Spring/Summer 2020 Collection_©Fashion Gone Rogue (collage by author)
  • Alexander McQueen 

Always subtle and artistic, Alexander McQueen’s creations could be seen on every significant runway around the world. This fashion designer often pushed the boundaries of where fashion and art meet by fusing a core understanding of tailoring with a dazzling assortment of varied influences. His accomplishments were so outstanding that the Queen gave him the CBE honor.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet5
Alexander McQueen – McQueen’s Spring 1999 Collection_ ©Vogue (collage by author)
  • Yves Saint Laurent

European fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, moved to Paris as a teenager to work for Christian Dior and became well-known for his clothing creations. The only man who dared to introduce a tuxedo for ladies was Yves, and it was a success. Since then, there has been no looking back.

Sheet6
YVES Saint Laurent – Paris Fashion Week_©livingly (collage by author)
  • Hana Holquist | Famous Fashion Designers

High-femme, dramatically draped creations by New York City-based designer Hana Holquist pay homage to the eccentricity and energy of the gay nightlife scene while also being reminiscent of the classic Christian Dior silhouette. Aquaria, the winner of Rupal’s Drag Race, and singer Poppy have both sported her creations. According to Holquist, “I’ve never felt the need to cater to guys or the male gaze as a lesbian”. By developing new codes of femininity that do not appeal to the male gaze, she hopes to question the idea of the feminine muse and the male gaze.

Sheet7
Hana Holquist Fashion Looks_©Pinterest (collage by author)
  • Gogo graham

Gogo Graham has been upcycling and thrifting for as long as she can remember, even though they have become significant and fashionable elements of the fashion world. She currently makes all of her designs entirely out of recycled thrift materials. According to Cut magazine, she makes garments, particularly for trans women.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet8
Gogo Graham AW18 Dazed_©Dazed (collage by author)
  • Diego Montoya 

Visual artist and fashion designer Diego Montoya are of Peruvian and American descent. He frequently uses repurposed materials to make installations and costumes for gay performers that are “larger-than-life,” “innovative, and subversive.” Along with numerous other well-known figures in the drag community, he dressed drag queen and actor Shangela for her Oscar debut.

10 famous queer Fashion Designers everyone should know about - Sheet9
Diego Montoya Fashion Looks_©creatively.life (collage by author)
  • Pierre Davis | Famous Fashion Designers 

She made history by becoming the first transgender designer to show at New York Fashion Week in 2019. Her brand, No Sesso (which means “no sex/gender” in Italian), has amassed a huge following in LA and has even been worn by celebrities including Doja Cat. She makes really fun, vibrant, and bright designs.

Famous Fashion Designers-Pierre Davis at NYFW_©pinterest (collage by author)

References:

    1. Vogue. 7 LGBTQIA+ Fashion Designers On Finding Their Identity. [online] Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/miss-vogue/article/queer-fashion-designers>
    2. Catchwalk Yourself. 8 LGBT Designers Who Transformed the Fashion Industry. [online] Available at: http://www.catwalkyourself.com/fashion-news/8-lgbt-designers-who-transformed-the-fashion-industry/
    3. Shop Repurpose. 5 Up-and-coming LGBT designers who are revolutionizing Queer Fashion. [online] Available at: < https://shoprepurpose.org/blogs/news/top-5-new-lgbt-designers>
    4. Withersworldwide. LGBTQ+ Trailblazers: The man, the myth, and the legend, Gianni Versace. [online] Available at: https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/lgbtq-trailblazers-the-man-the-myth-and-the-legend-gianni-versace?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration
    5. Gentleman’s Gazette. Gentleman of Style – Tom Ford. [online] Available at: <https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/gentleman-style-tom-ford/
    6. Saul Nash. Twist AW21. [online] Available at: <https://www.saulnash.co.uk/twist-aw21>
    7. The Fashionography. Saul Nash. [online] Available at: < https://thefashionography.com/fashion-editorials-originals/saul-nash-interview/>
    8. Equality Vodka. LGBT Fashion and the Fierce Designers Who make it Fabulous. [online] Available at: < https://my.equalityvodka.com/lgbt-fashion-and-fierce-designers>
    9. Vogue. A Look Back at Some of Alexander McQueen’s Most Beloved and Beautiful Rose Creations. [online] Available at: https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/alexander-mcqueen-rose-dresses
    10. Teen Vogue. Yves Saint Laurent Shows Strong Shoulders at Paris Fashion Week. [online] Available at: < https://www.teenvogue.com/story/yves-saint-laurent-paris-fashio-nweek-review>
Author

Reetika is an aspiring architect who is inquisitive about stories behind all works of art. She enjoys telling those stories and adding her own spin to them. She strives to write and communicate herself in a way that is informative, simple to read and comprehend for anyone and everyone.