Inside DapperQ Ten: NYFW’s Largest Display Of Queer Fashion

Featured Image: DykeMint show. Photo by Molly Adams.

Earlier this month, a decade of DapperQ was celebrated in partnership with the Brooklyn Museum in one of the queerest ways possible—New York Fashion Week’s largest LGBTQ+ show. As a pioneer of a queer fashion revolution, DapperQ is a queer digital magazine and organization that centers a generation of subversion, fashionable resistance, and diverse belonging. Their NYFW show was an event of visual activism, gender-bending looks, and timelessly queering the runway. From one-of-one leather looks to patchwork pieces bursting at the seams with personality, DapperQ has outdone itself again. As this year’s newest collections owned the runway, GO was at the fashion front line to experience the queer and trans excellence that made this year’s show a perfect 10. 

Backstage, a fashion frenzy was brewing just beyond the curtain. Curling irons were flying, wafts of hairspray infiltrated the room, and the behind-the-scenes NYFW chaos was every bit the adrenaline-diva dolled up in sequins and silk. As designers were busy stitching stories of queer identity into every inch of fabric, GO had the chance to pick the brains behind the brilliance of this year’s tenth annual show. 

DykeMint

Fi Black, owner of DykeMint, took us through their creative process before the show. Their line, “Butches Contain Multitudes,” was co-created with their wife, Lita. Fi described the throughline of the piece as a desire to expand what butchness means and looks like—particularly using their one-of-one pieces to broaden conceptions of gender expression that typically box butches in. 

Related: Fashion Designer Fi Black Is Re-Coding Gender On The Runway

“I don’t shy away from color, and I feel like as a butch, a masc, and a stud, you’re supposed to act, dress, and be a certain way, or people will invalidate your identity,” they told GO. Referencing the name of their line, they describe their work as a collage of texture and color where every piece is its own composition and story. “You know, a butch can be a cowboy, or a butch can be soft but have the biggest muscles in the room.” 

Naturally, GO couldn’t help but wonder if Fi and Lita had a favorite piece in the collection. “I’m just super into the cow-butch one,” Fi told GO. “I say cow-butch because, you know, it’s not boys. And, there’s just a lot of actual queer history with cowboys. The West has always kind of been this place where people went when they weren’t able to live their lives.” Fi notes that there is a precedent behind the look, and historic details are crucial to the piece. “When you first see the collection, you go—that’s fun, that’s colorful, but think critically about it and try to include little symbols and pieces of things.” 

Being a late entry in the show, Fi and Lita had their work cut out for them in the weeks leading up to it, but limited time is no match for DykeMint. Fi tells GO, “Yeah, we’re masochists at the end of the day. Like, wow, that collared lapel has a billion beads. And I’m like, ‘Yes, and I don’t have fingers anymore.’” 

DykeMint’s line spoke true to its values of reinventing what butch and masc fashion looks like beyond traditional and outdated conceptions— having its iconic “I Want A Dyke For President” lettering sprawled out on the back of a pink blazer. 

HESTA

Hester Sunshine, owner of HESTA, took a few minutes out of their pre-show prep to talk with GO about the inspiration and creative vision behind their collection. “The line is a little moody. It’s unique and honestly a collection of materials that I was excited about, and it’s a little medieval. It’s night inspired, it’s also motocross inspired, but it’s what I see for future queer fashion…. Or what I feel like I want to wear raving in the apocalypse.” 

Earlier this year, GO sat down with Hester to talk about all things fashion and upcoming projects—not knowing a DapperQ line was in their future. Hester gave us an inside scoop about a piece they had been wanting to create for a while, and seeing that piece in the line was a true full-circle moment. Their invention of a binder-corset made an appearance on the runway, and it was everything and more. In the developing stages of the idea, Hester envisioned a chest binder that goes beyond utility and practicality—something sexy, the type of undergarment that makes you want to take your shirt off—a privilege typically afforded to cisgender people. The DapperQ show was the perfect place for its debut. 

“I made [a binder corset] that’s full compression, and it works! It needs to be workshopped, but this is where I go to test out ideas. I don’t make trials of things… I just go straight to fabric—very Project Runway vibes. All of this was the first time it came together, and I’m so proud of it. It’s been a wild six months,” Hester told GO. 

SOID Studios

As the pre-show jitters became palpable, designers were rushing to put their finishing touches on their signature looks. Amidst the chaos, GO was able to get a quick sneak peek into how Jose Gonzalez was feeling about the show. As the creative director of Soid Studios—a cyber-cowboy-punk aesthetic-inspired fashion brand—Jose took us through what it meant to him to be at this year’s DapperQ show. 

“I identify myself as a queer person, so I like to play with gender and the political side behind it—to be a queer person and make fashion inspired by punk rock, I get to be in front of everyone’s face and say ‘I’m a powerful person and I’m a creative person… You can be anything and everything wearing my brand,” Jose tells GO. 

The majority of Jose’s pieces on the runway were black head-to-toe, with studs, spikes, fringes, and metal adornments adding elements to the punk-rock-inspired pieces. Models were more than just wearers of clothes, but embodiments of the art of punk-rock, wearing white face paint and smoky eyeshadow to complete the look. Fur boots, asymmetrical pieces, and an unforgettable red lip took the line to a new level. 

TransGuySupply

At this year’s show, TransGuySupply’s line was more than just clothing—it was a true performance. Models sported two-piece sets with printed faces and bodies of trans men, ending their walk on the runway by taking off their shirts—most models proudly showing off scars from top surgery. The line of clothing itself spoke volumes to wearing your identity loud and proud, but it was ultimately a testament to the pride and space trans men and trans-mascs deserve to take up in the fashion world. 

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GO spoke with two models, Miles and Ro, from the line and got intel on what the designs and brand are truly all about. “So for the line itself, TransGuySupply always aims to really highlight masculinity in a way that pushes boundaries,” Miles told GO. “It specifically has a big focus on soft intimacy and kink elements as well. The clothes themselves show the models that were in the original photo shoot.” 

To Miles, being a part of DapperQ goes far beyond fashion. “To me, honestly, just being in a trans space with so many trans and queer people walking in the show, and so many trans and queer people in the crowd, it’s just a really special display of diversity in all shapes, colors, and sizes, and is something really needed in the fashion space.” 

Along similar lines, Ro tells GO about the full-circle nature of having partnered with TransGuySupply many times in the past, and now walking on the runway for them. “With TransGuySupply, I just really love how they reflect the softness and masculinity in the way that trans guys and trans masculine people are almost rewriting it. It is really amazing to be in a space full of queer, talented, and creative people.”  

Genevive – Co-Producer of DapperQ 

Just before the curtains opened and bright lights shone on the faces of eager NYFW-goers, GO caught Genevive, DapperQ’s co-producer, just in time to get insight on a decade of DapperQ. 

Genevive, now six years into their work with DapperQ, describes it as increasingly natural and fluid—sustained by a mutual pour of creativity and care between them, the creatives, and the community at large. “We get so many people who just keep coming back and showing up for us, and we just know we can rely on them to come up, show up, and be here for us,” they tell GO, noting that DapperQ’s show couldn’t be possible without the partnership of the Brooklyn Museum. 

Ten years in, the queer community gets to witness the evolution and cultural impact of DapperQ. To Genevive, the past ten years—and the ones still to come—represent a growing legacy of visibility, rebellion, and permanence. “Ten years is just so meaningful. I feel like queers so rarely get these kinds of big time markers, and to get to a decade, especially in this political climate, it means everything. Getting to have a community celebration and have all of these incredibly creative and outrageous queers being every bit of themselves—it’s just amazing.” 

The essence of DapperQ has always been a celebration of queerness and diversity, and gives a true platform to creators who have historically been left out of the fashion community. To Genevive, the spirit of their work and community is what keeps its essence alive. “I think there’s just such a spirit of embracing all of the wild diversity of creativity that the queer community brings to the world in every kind of way,” they tell GO. 

“There is such thoughtful detail about gender presentations and how people can feel like their best selves, and the full range of ways that that gets embraced—I’m just so blown away by the ways that people can show up, reinvent themselves, and find new ways to do things. It just seems endless.”