Top Fashion Influencer: Barry Brandon

Mumbai [India], June 19: Barry Brandon (He/They/Her/Ze) is a Queer non comforming fashion influencer, better known online as the queer indigo. On their Instagram and TikTok, Barry shows off outfits in an extravagant fashion.

Swati Bhat

Pic Courtesy of Barry Brandon, Photo by Sebastien Navosad

A lot of Barry’s videos feature fellow LGBTQIA+ creators from all over the world. Together they strutt and the caption will inform followers what bigger meaning there is behind the scene they have chosen. Whilst Barry’s clothing is never anything less than fabulous, their aim is bigger than that. On a mission to inspire others to be their authentic selves, Barry created their own digital agency, For All Humans.

Whether it be for fashion inspiration (Barry always links all of their clothing) or to find a role model to be yourself more authentically, Barry’s content will help you achieve either.

Whether it be for fashion inspiration (Barry always links all of their clothing) or to find a role model to be yourself more authentically, Barry’s content will help you achieve either.

Pic Courtesy of Barry Brandon, Photo by Sebastien Navosad

#thecommunique #tc #tcn #lgbtq #barrybrandon #influencer #fashion #style #trend

How digital and physical identities will intertwine in virtual fashion design

Amsterdam [Netherlands], June 18: The metaverse, while not an entirely new concept, is still under continuous development. It's not one tangible facet but a multiverse of different virtual environments that allow users to explore online spaces and their place in them. It was this particular aspect that was investigated during a panel discussion at Met Ams, a newly established conference in Amsterdam entirely focused on making the metaverse more accessible.

Swati Bhat

Pic Courtesy: Set Vexy, Met Ams 2022

The panel, held on Thursday, the second day of the two day event spanning June 15 to 16, consisted of a number of influential individuals in the digital fashion sphere, each of which contribute to varying elements of virtual design development. Founder of digital creative agency Mad XR, Ashumi S, senior lecturer at Amsterdam Fashion Academy, Giancarlo Pazzanese, and Kerry Murphy, the founder and CEO of digital fashion platform The Fabricant, each spoke of their own take on the merging of digital and physical identities in the metaverse space.

When discussing the actual meaning of ‘identity’, the panellists mostly referenced links to their upbringing and personal experiences that helped shape who they are. They noted that these can often collide with how we unconsciously want to be perceived in the metaverse too, despite it essentially being a clean slate – something they all said we should work to move away from.

“In the world we live in, we have these limitations around us, especially when it comes to the laws of physics,” said the panel’s moderator, metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) strategist, Diego Borgo. “The exciting part of the metaverse and virtual reality is how you are breaking those boxes, so you can be whoever or whatever you want. I think that is exciting, especially when it comes to fashion and digital fashion.”

“You can have multiple different personas…”

Pazzanese agreed with Borgo’s sentiment, adding that this idea also works for clothing too. Designers are able to completely reimagine the silhouettes of standard clothing, reshaping what we know about an item and taking it beyond the boundaries that exist in the physical realm. The panelists each agreed that fashion brands should be taking advantage of this freedom that working in the digital space actually provides, exploring the new ways it allows users to express themselves and the fluidity of identity in virtual reality.

“We are not set to be this one person, you can have multiple different personas,” The Fabricant’s Murphy said. “That’s really the power of the metaverse and the Web3 space. It brings us the tools to be able to express ourselves in much more unique ways. Hopefully, experiences in the metaverse will also come into our physical lives, where we may be brave enough to express ourselves in new ways that we wouldn’t normally have done.”

Mad XR’s Ashumi said that she had observed children forming their identities through role playing in the real world, directly translating their experiences in metaverse gaming environments and ultimately contributing to the formation of their own expression and way of dressing. However, Murphy added that even children are facing the brunt of offline social constructs, often showing resistance towards using digital clothing in ways that could be negatively perceived offline, like a boy wearing dresses.

“We need to make it a safe space..”

“It’s funny how those social constructs come into that space as well – that we take it with us into the metaverse,” he commented. “I still think there is some type of learning to be done for kids to break down those barriers. It's a space where kids can learn to express themselves in a much richer way than their physical lives, but we need to make it into a safe space, not just where we bring in the same social constructs, because otherwise we aren't going anywhere.”

Pazzanese said that it was this safe space that was an important yet often overlooked part of the metaverse, noting that bringing our unconscious biases into these spaces could hinder its development. “In order to be free, express ourselves and try these clothes, we need to feel safe,” he said. “There is a lot of invisible diversity, and that is what creates a community, when you are recognised and accepted for the aspects that you don’t see but want to express somehow.”

However, to get to this point, the panelists emphasised the need for diversifying the space itself, with each of them noting that there is an obvious lack of women and cultural inclusivity within the Web3 and metaverse-based industries. This is evident in the often overtly sexualised female avatars present in online games, and created by male designers, or the sparse diversity in characters and digital creators. All agreed that it was imperative to change these elements in order to move forward.

“There is a responsibility for the images we put out there as designers,” Pazzanese added. “The metaverse needs to be built by people with a long term vision, not just in the technical space. It is important to bring other builders into it – people that can define the values of the metaverse because it's a male driven environment. Otherwise, we are just replicating the same space we already have. The metaverse is an extension of our existence and it's supposed to be a place that is better to be in, rather than worse.”

Ultimately, while the metaverse allows for much freedom and flexibility, companies should still take accountability over the images that they put out there, the lecturer continued. In doing so, Pazzanese hopes that the metaverse can become this ‘safe space’ for those looking to explore their identity, dismantle social constructs and promote a more inclusive environment.

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In pictures: Highlights from London Fashion Week's June edition

London [UK] June 18: London Fashion Week presented by Clearplay returned to the capital from June 11 until Monday June 13.

Swati Bhat

Pic Courtesy: AGR SS23, courtesy of the brand and LFW Official

London Fashion Week presented by Clearplay returned to the capital from June 11 until Monday June 13.

The event marked the 10th anniversary of the June edition of London Fashion Week, which was initially launched as a menswear event, but during the pandemic was pivoted to a digital-physical programme showcasing both menswear and womenswear.

The event is more lowkey than London Fashion Week’s January and September shows, and focuses less on big-name, established designers, and more on up-and-coming talent.

Designers and organisations attending in June included Agnė Kuzmickaitė, AGR, Ahluwalia, Carlota Barrera, Labrum London, Qasimi, Yuzefi, Robyn Lynch, Scott Henshall, Tiger of Sweden, University of Westminster BA, and Ravensbourne University London.

Here are some highlights from the hybrid event:

AGR

A standout at the June edition of London Fashion Week was AGR, a brand founded in 2019 by London-based designer Alicia Robinson. The aptly named SS23 collection, ‘Dripping in Colour’, celebrates the label’s journey from handmade knits for Notting Hill Carnival to debuting at London Fashion Week.

Showcased at London’s iconic Fabric nightclub, the collection includes prints inspired by German artist Katharina Grosse’s fabric installations, mixed with references to 90s sandblasted jeans, glistening swimwear, and Sonia Rykiel’s iconic stripes.

The collection features recycled denim, metallic foiling on crochet, and tye-dye and knitted pointelle lycra techniques, while the bright colours were selected “with a clear intent to stimulate positive emotions and encourage mental wellbeing”.

All Pic Courtesy: AGR SS23, courtesy of the brand and LFW Official

Labrum London

Labrum London’s spring-summer 2023 ‘Freedom of Movement’ collection explores the idea of a borderless society and celebrates the merging of various cultures. The story is influenced by the heritage of the brand’s founder and creative director, Foday Dumbuya, who was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and was brought up in London.

The influence of mixing cultures and the blurring of borders can be seen in the collections' Mark Rothko-inspired colour palette - blues, greens and browns gradually blend together and are rarely broken up by harsh blocks - as well as the use of the Labrum London monogram, whose “placement of borders and the repetition of the print symbolises the idea of borders being placed around us, with the movement of immigrants going against them”.

All Pic Courtesy: Labrum London brand SS23 and LFW Official

Robyn Lynch

Dublin-born menswear designer Robyn Lynch also showcased at the June edition of London Fashion Week. Lynch is known for diving into her father’s archive of clothes in search of inspiration, but for this collection takes an emotional look back at her mother’s former fashion items, finding inspiration in a t-shirt she brought back from a trip to Mallorca in 1983, with “neon smiley faces scattered generously throughout”.

Lynch takes inspiration from “the ugliest, funniest, most charming” souvenir t-shirts from all over the world, and reimagines them into elevated pieces. The collection features miniature crab embroideries on trousers and jersey pieces, and a towelling poncho - “a symbol of safety and warmth your mum used to force you to wear” - reimagined as an elevated piece of outerwear executed in two-toned bouclé.

Textiles include natural fibres and specially dyed nylons made out of Seaqual yarn, which is woven out of ocean waste. The summery colour palette consists of brick orange, charcoal brown, sand beige, and yellow mustard.

All Pic Courtesy: Robyn Lynch SS23, courtesy of the brand nd LFW Official

Qasimi

Qasimi, under the creative direction of Hoor Al-Qasimi, the twin of late founder Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi, showcased a spring-summer 2023 collection inspired by the Tuareg people, as well as the Saharawi and the Sahel regions.

The collection, presented as a digital film, combined “military threads, desert nomads, sartorial subversion, technology with a soul and the natural camouflage of mirage horizons”. The collection featured rope macramé inspired by pearl diving and seafaring communities in the Gulf, and military tropes such as US army combat uniforms, Swiss army work jackets, Swedish army popovers, and thermal zip necks.

Embellishments include Middle-East-inspired pearls draped over tailored jackets and adding “an oceanic texture to shirts that are otherwise structured in the collar and sleeve”.

All Pic Courtesy: Qasimi SS23 | Credit: Fabian Montique

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