Queer Fashion Has Always Been Genderless

Eyricka Lanvin, the mother of The House Lanvin on HBO Max’s show Legendary, can still recall how liberated she felt during her first walking competition in 2001. “I wore a wig, Nine West stilettos, and this body-hugging snakeskin dress,” she tells W. “I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I can’t, I will not go back to my past self.” Growing up in “deep” Brooklyn, Lanvin struggled against the confines of gender binaries in clothing. That is, until she finally stepped foot on the ballroom scene. “As a person who was figuring themselves out, it was tough. Guys wore guy clothing. Women wore women’s.” Now, as one of ballroom’s reigning queens, Eyricka Lanvin’s fashion choices are a direct reflection of how she’s feeling. “I am a comfortable, street-style girl. If I wake up and want to wear jeans and a baseball cap, I’ll do that. If I want to wear a pink jumpsuit and hoops, I’ll do that, too. What is gender? Follow your heart and wear what feels right.” Read more at W.