L'Uomo Strano

Founder: Mic. Carter

Wesbite: www.luomostrano.com (external link) 

Fashion as a self-actualization medium has been an ambivalent tool for many of the femme-identified, non-binary POC individuals that I’ve collaborated with over the past 5 years. Many expressed that although fashion was an integral aspect to their evolving identity, they frequently also struggled with feeling that their bodies and desires were marginalized by and within the institution of fashion. For instance, the act of shopping continues to expose many femme-identified GNC individuals to the violence of gender-policed change rooms and to transphobic gazes, even in fashion-forward spaces that claim to champion gender-neutrality. Given that a recent UCLA study found that 27% of California’s youth report that their peers view them as gender nonconforming, and that these individuals were “more than twice as likely to have experienced psychological distress in the last year”, creating consumer experiences that center the narratives, desires, safety and identities of the gender nonconforming community is imperative to our evolving society’s mental health.