We Need To Talk About Streetwear’s Problem With Queer People

Fashion is gay as hell. From Yves Saint Lauren to Karl Lagerfeld to Cristobal Balenciaga, the greatest designers in history have either been queer men, or women who exude so much B.D.E. (Donatella, Miuccia, Coco — we’re looking at you) that they’re without question considered legendary gay icons too. That’s before we get to the photographers, stylists, editors, PRs, and everyone else behind the scenes too. The fashion world has long been a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Nowadays though, that’s not entirely true. Streetwear, with its roots in skating and hip-hop culture, has predominantly been a space for other stigmatised members of society to wear clothes that double up as a badge of cultural unity. As the community began to grow over the past five years, with Supreme and Palace being ransacked by hypebros rather than OG skaters, those often socially-conservative culture vultures brought their hideous and hyper-masculine views on the LGBTQ+ community with them. Read more at i-D.