As signers, stylists, and ins, gay men have always been fashn dtry power players—a fact the Camp extravaganza put on full, proud display.
Contents:
- THE CAMP MET GALA WAS A CELEBRATN OF FASHN’S GAY HISTORY
- MEGAN RAPOE REPLAC GOD WH 'GAY' BLASPHEMO MET GALA OUTF
THE CAMP MET GALA WAS A CELEBRATN OF FASHN’S GAY HISTORY
As always, the mm’s ont steps echoed wh the rallyg cry “gay rights! Andrew Lear, a gay historian who ns Osr Wil Tours, the green rnatn beme associated wh Wil as a subtle signal of his sexualy. ”Megan RapoeTheo WargoAs if the soccer MVP’s red-whe-and-blue Serg Hudson su weren’t patrtic enough, her clutch drove the msage home: “In gay we tst” Daley Jeff KravzThe Olympic diver and newly mted gold medalist donned an all-black three piece.
Pairg all wh a Prcs Leia-style tight updo, the legendary Broadway super-producer ma another statement we won’t soon Essi attends The 2022 Met CoppolaPaapa EssiAfter helpg brg one of the ’s bt Black gay stori to life Michaela Coel’s I May Dtroy You, Paapa Essi was more than ready to serve a buttery soft-lookg su done dark teal sue. Some of them are closely kept, while others are everythg but spelled out on a billboard—like the fact that gay men are the fashn dtry’s real power if fashn’s primary nsumers are women (and many of s newt, hungrit nsumers are straight guys), many of s most fluential creative forc are gay men. The first signers to fe fashn as we know , whose nam still pack a powerful brandg punch and mean lns of dollars sal, were gay men: Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dr, and Yv Sat Lrent.
8% are gay men—but most of the luxury brands listed McKsey’s 2018 Global Fashn Inx, cludg Louis Vuton, Marc Jabs, Gucci, Balenciaga, Sat Lrent, and Burberry, are led by gay men. Many of the dtry’s major edorial stylists, who terme what clothg nsumers see magaz, advertisements, and even on streetstyle stars, are gay open-but-closed nature of this realy the fashn dtry is a somewhat recent phenomenon, though. That attu was quickly adopted by Europe’s surrept gay muni, most notably the dandy Osr wasn’t until the ’90s that what we thk of as ntemporary Camp fashn really began, and most of the exhibn’s clothg is pulled om this era to the prent.
MEGAN RAPOE REPLAC GOD WH 'GAY' BLASPHEMO MET GALA OUTF
) But was the ’90s that the Camp fashn we know fully blossomed, when shifted om the untentnal—the “ad ser” te Camp, which, say, Nancy Reagan uld believe, earntly, that giant red taffeta sleev were jt the right thg for the First Wife of an admistratn that claimed to be all about tax reform—to somethg more is that tentnal Camp that brgs the clothg the exhibn’s fal exuberant room, which featur a two-story display of Camp fashns om the past two s, and many of which were ma by signers who grew up at a time when the ia of beg “openly gay” did not exist. It was the gayt red rpet was so unnny about last night’s red rpet is that the sence of that pageantry is Camp: you show up an absurd outf, a giant nfectn yanked om a signer’s dark psyche of fantasy ball evengs, and purr about what you’re wearg and who you aaan’t waiii to seeeee. But the great unspoken tensn of fashn has been that s a gay man’s fantasy of what and how a woman should be.