After a successful digital launch last December, local LGBTQIA+ co-op Queer Connect have teamed up with Revival Runway to organise their very first IRL fashion event, Queer By Design, this Thursday at Abbotsford Convent.
It’s an event which has been in the works for more than six months, with organisers Nathan Van and Darren Grant (of Queer Connect) and Sofie Carfi and Niki Bruce (of Revival Runway) landing on nine of the most innovative and exciting queer designers to show off the very best of queer fashion here in Melbourne/Naarm.
More than that, Queer By Design features an all-queer cast of performers—including models, makeup artists, DJs, and more—in what’s set to be the biggest queer runway event the city has ever seen.
Not Safe For Queers chats to Darren Grant (AKA DJ RE_IMAGE), producer at Queer Connect, about the event, what audiences can expect, and which designers they’re most excited to see waltz down the runway.
NSFQ: Give me a little spiel about Queer Connect—where the idea came from, what your involvement is, etc.
DG: Queer Connect is a non-profit that looks to connect, promote, and celebrate queer creatives within different industries and mediums across Naarm. Nathan Van founded Queer Connect to help younger queer people understand that there’s a vibrant and proud queer talent pool right in their backyard.
I met Nathan as they had just finished the shoot for our last campaign—Choosing Love—and I was quickly able to identify where I could help bring their vision to life. While they have worked mainly on booking the models, designers, and makeup artists, I’ve been focused on the entertainment, the marketing, the technical side of things, and, of course, I’ll be DJing the event, too, which I’m so excited for!
NSFQ: After last year’s Choosing Love campaign, Queer By Design will be Queer Connect’s second activation. What made the team decide on a runway for your second event?
DG: After we launched Choosing Love (which was mainly a digital campaign) we wanted to create an in-person ephemeral experience that still prioritised multi-disciplinary queer talent. Nathan Van works primarily within fashion and it was really important for them to pay homage to the industry which ultimately help raise them to become the strong queer creative that they are today.
While queer people have historically and presently been at the forefront of fashion throughout the world, here in Naarm we rarely see fashion events prioritising queer identity—and I don’t think we’ve ever seen an all-queer runway event in this city at this scale. Our designers are queer, our models are queer, our makeup artists are queer, our performers are queer. The runway is really just the medium through which we are showcasing that our local queer talent pool is powerful, diverse, limitless—and not going anywhere.
NSFQ: Queer By Design will showcase the works of nine queer designers. Who’s works should we be on the lookout for?
DG: All nine of the designers are so creative and exciting and are all at different points in their careers; for some, this will be the first time their works are featured on a runway, whereas others have become synonymous with Melbourne fashion.
We also wanted to show that ‘queer’ fashion can look and feel very different and doesn’t have to mean just one thing. We have formal wear, street wear, haute couture, and garments you might associate with drag or cabaret. And then we have some really exciting conceptual pieces that push the boundaries of these categories all together, and I’m most excited to see what designers like Foot and Milky Plug Kid present because they’ve become known for expanding the often-times strict definitions within fashion.
NSFQ: From Isis Avis Loren to Amber Scates to DJ RE_IMAGE, there’s so much entertainment during the event. What else can audiences expect from the night?
DG: We wanted Queer By Design to showcase as much of the varied talents on offer across Naarm as we could, and having a national icon like Isis Avis Loren as part of this project is such a massive privilege as she’s such a multi-talented creative who’s garnered huge recognition for her incredibly varied skill set.
While there will be so much going on visually—from the runway, to the performers, to Isis’ installation—audiences should try to keep an ear out for what I’ll be playing on the night, as I really want to put a focus on local queer musicians. At the moment all I’m listening to is local musicians like Cherry Chola, JULAI, Robert Baxter, Tom Nethersole, Dirty Versachi…I could literally go on for days. They’re just killing it. During the pre-show, intermission and at the end of the event I’ll be playing only local music that I’m obsessed with (and that you’ll be obsessed with, too!) So, keep your shazam ready!
NSFQ: The event is a collaboration between Queer Connect and Revival Runway. What has this partnership allowed you to do that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise?
DG: Revival Runway have been such an incredible force by allowing us to create something that otherwise would be so out of our reach. The creative industries in Melbourne are so gatekept and, particularly in this current economic crisis (and more broadly within this late-stage capitalist dystopia), it’s almost impossible for grassroots creatives to organise large scale events. Revival Runway have been instrumental in providing us with the resources to actualise Queer By Design.
Just as importantly, because they’re such an established name within Melbourne fashion, Sofie and Nikki of Revival Runway have been incredible mentors to both Nathan and I, and this experience alone has taught me so much that I know will be vital for us as emerging creatives in the future.
Queer By Design is set to take over Abbotsford Convent’s North Magdalen Laundry this Thursday 24 October from 7.00pm. Tickets on sale now.