Contemporary Queer Fashion Media as Personal Liberations: Qwear, Digital Media, and Twenty-First-Century Queer Fashion Shows

An academic article about Qwear was published in the Fashion, Style & Popular Culture journal titled “Contemporary Queer Fashion Media as Personal Liberations: Qwear, Digital Media, and Twenty-First-Century Queer Fashion Shows.” Written by Kelly L. Reddy-Best and Megan Romans of Iowa State University, the article highlights Qwear’s major and often overlooked impact on society.

The article opens discussing media’s general influence on society.

“Whether through printed materials or live fashion presentations, media serves as a potent instrument in moulding societal viewpoints, presenting an opportunity to enhance inclusivity and/or promote misrepresentations of reality (Kätsyri et al. 2012; McManis et al. 2001).”

They then examine how mainstream media has largely commodified queer fashion, stripping it of authenticity and reinforcing the need for platforms like Qwear to preserve and amplify genuine queer expression.

“Throughout much of history, mainstream media has marginalized queer communities, prompting the development of queer media to create positive visibility (Das and Farber 2020).”

They highlight the internet as a crucial support system for LGBTQ youth, underscoring Qwear’s essential role in fostering community and representation. This leads into a discussion of Sonny’s journey in founding Qwear at 22, featuring images of his childhood fashion magazine, Radical Fashion, a creation born from cutting up magazines and adding his own words.

Sonny Oram’s fashion magazine cut-outs from their childhood featuring a feminine body with a masculine face cut out and pasted onto the face.

“These early experiences highlight Oram’s gender identity exploration through craft. That is, they used the magazines as a vehicle to fuck with gender, an aesthetic known as genderfuck, and create representation for themselves in this intimate space. Arguably, Radical Fashion is a precursor and earlier form of Qwear.”

They explored Sonny’s efforts to diversify search results, ensuring greater visibility for underrepresented identities in fashion.

“Oram explained that because of their background in communications, they have a strong grasp on search engine optimization and that they have engaged in ‘SEO activism’. They explained SEO was important for representation because before, when they would do an internet search for ‘androgynous style’, all pictures that populated included a ‘thin, white female assigned at birth person wearing guy’s clothes’ which informs the stereotypes and social norms of what people think an androgynous person can look like. Oram took action here and ‘started creating content with androgynous people who look different’ and now when one searches for that term ‘you get a much wider variety of results’.”

They then dove into Qwear’s outfit page - a curated collection of images from our articles that invites readers to discover a wide range of styles they might not have known existed.

“Another media space is their outfits page, which Oram describes as an ‘endless inspiration so that people can find a style that resonates with them’ (Figure 5). In this space, Qwear curates dismantled stereotypes and queer sensibilities through a bricolage of aesthetics, styles and personal agency from folks around the globe, offering a rich tapestry of fashion that reflects the multifaceted nature of queer identities. The theoretical concept of bricolage, as discussed by Claude Lévi-Strauss (1962), refers to the process of creating something new by combining various available materials, often in an impro- visational manner. In the context of Qwear’s outfits page, bricolage manifests through the eclectic mix of fashion elements drawn from diverse sources and individual experiences. This method of assembling different styles and aesthetics not only challenges conventional fashion norms but also emphasizes the creative agency of queer individuals. By juxtaposing disparate fashion pieces and cultural symbols, Qwear constructs a dynamic and inclusive visual language that celebrates diversity and personal expression.”

They discuss our Qwearies, emphasizing how we encourage readers to embrace their authentic selves and resist societal or familial pressures to conform.

“This emphasis on personal agency aligns closely with theoretical interpretations from Black feminist thought, particularly regarding the sentiments of self-definition and self-valuation. Black feminist scholars like Patricia Hill-Collins (2009) argue that the ability to define oneself, rather than being defined by others, is a crucial aspect of empowerment for Black women and other marginalized groups.”

They highlight our award-winning campaign, “This Is What Asexual Looks Like,” led by activist Yasmin Benoit, which has brought powerful visibility to asexual representation in the media.

Yasmin Benoit, founder of This Is What Asexual Looks Like.

“In the context of Black asexual narratives, liminality manifests as a space where individuals navigate multiple intersecting identities, often experiencing a state of ‘betweenness’. This ‘betweenness’ challenges rigid societal norms and categorizations, as Black asexual individuals often find themselves at the margins of both racial and sexual identity discourses. By highlighting this liminality, Benoit not only disrupts the dominant narratives that often exclude Black asexual voices but also underscores the complex and fluid nature of identity itself, emphasizing that intersectional experiences cannot be neatly categorized within existing frameworks.

They then explore Qwear’s Fashion Director and Co-Owner Ru’s innovative approach to fashion design, where they reverses the traditional process of by creating clothing tailored to the models, rather than finding models who fit the clothing.

“Ru wanted to move away from the models as vessels that serve the designer’s vision to having an active engagement with the fashions. This paradigm offered a new way to think through queering fashion.”

Dismantle Me Qwear Fashion Show – Bandana Collar Shirt by Ru, worn by model Tiny Duval at Queer Fashion Week 2015.

Dismantle Me Qwear Fashion Show – Hoodie Tie design by Ru, worn by model Alli at Queer Fashion Week 2015.

They discussed each Qwear fashion shows, starting with the political message behind Ru’s designs “Dismantle Me” at Oakland Fashion Week 2015.

“Ru’s innovative designs, which integrated bandanas into shirt collars and ties into hoodies, exemplify a fusion of fashion and political symbolism. The bandana, a historic symbol used by movements like the Black Liberation Army, evokes a powerful connection to resistance and solidarity, especially in the context of racial justice protests sparked by the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. By incorporating these elements, the show not only honoured past struggles but also highlighted ongoing issues of racial injustice, positioning fashion as a potent medium for political expression.

The writers conclude with a statement affirming the importance of fashion for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Qwear founder Sonny Oram, photo by Sam Murray

“Sonny Oram’s founding journey of Qwear, rooted in personal healing through clothing, underscores the transformative power of fashion as a tool for self-discovery, activism and solidarity within the queer and trans communities.”