GAYLETTER

The House of Dior, founded in 1946 by the eponymous Christian Dior, should need no introduction, but in case you are unfamiliar, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture is a lavish introduction to the breathtaking evolution of one of fashion’s most honored houses. Dior is a titan in the fashion industry that has continuously boasted successful lines of ready-to-wear fashion, fragrances, leather goods, accessories, timepieces, jewelry, and, of course, haute couture. Together with the National Gallery of Victoria, Dior has released this brand-new, gorgeously constructed book to celebrate their 70th anniversary.

In the foreword, the director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Tony Ellwood, writes: “This fully illustrated publication…explores the rich history of the fashion house, the design codes synonymous with the House of Dior, insights into the Dior atelier workrooms, and the role that accessories and perfume have played in expressing the complete Dior look.”

Written by Katie Somerville, Lydia Kamitsis, and Danielle Whitfield, The House of Dior breaks down each era of the house since its inception in 1947, separated into sections and themes based on the tenures of the many legendary creative directors of the house: Christian Dior (1946-1957), Yves Saint-Laurent (1957–1960), Marc Bohan (1960–1989), Gianfranco Ferré (1989–1997), John Galliano (1997–2011), Bill Gaytten (2011–2012), Raf Simons (2012–2015), and the first female creative director of Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri (2016–present).

Christian Dior mannequins in the salon of House of Dior’s headquarters. 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris 1957. …

Over the past few years, drag has gone from niche performance art to cultural phenomenon. With offshoots from the now empiric RuPaul’s Drag Race coming to millennial-focused networks like Viceland (The Trixie & Katya Show), and former show-contestants like Valentina appearing on the upcoming season of America’s Next Top Model, drag queens are now receiving major bookings, and, much to our delight, their careers are now watched by millions of people.

There are plenty of drag queens who come from an Asian heritage, however the particular subset of queens and nightlife personas can sometimes feel slightly underrepresented in the world-wide drag theatre. With exceptions like Gia Gunn (RPDR Season 6) whose “feelin’ like pussy, feelin’ like cunt” attitude has resonated with many, to Kim Chi (RPDR Season 8) whose Korean inspired name seems like an afterthought when compared to her celebrated make-up skills and Season 8 finale appearance. Asian queens receive a much smaller portion of the credit in regards to the success of the now massive drag industry.

As the LGBTQ+ community attempts total inclusion, Asian performers are making strides to keep their part of the community close-knit, especially in the clock-central drag circuit. The photographer Oliver Mint took it upon himself to platform some of the fiercest faces within his midst. Using some of the finest faces out of the Brooklyn drag community, Sookie Sterling, Dynasty, Mahal Kita, West Dakota and Panthera Lush posed for some photos inspired by the fashion-great, Richard Avedon. …

Over-the-top industry events, celebrity run-ins, paid press trips, and pretty much non-stop mayhem summed up our twenties. Alex Catarinella, a journalist for outlets like Vogue, Elle, PAPER, and i–D, happens to be one of our close friends who, like us, paraded through those formative years wearing debauchery and glam as a uniform.

The only difference between us was that when we would turn in for the night, Alex’s night would just begin. When Alex finally decided to open up about his after-hours rendezvous, we sensed something darker was brewing underneath the face he wore out in the world.  Disillusioned by my own need for a life out of the ordinary, we considered his strife all par for the course.

Now, in a series of essays for Dazed, Alex reveals his story of sex, drugs, and rock bottoms. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” he writes. “I survived the masochistic man bun, drill sergeant sides and all. It was the summer of 2014 when my insides were at their darkest, but my hair colour was at its bleached blonde brightest. The black roots aggressively powered through, though – darkness is attracted to light.” Surprisingly, it took one week in an LGBTQ rehab and Courtney Love introducing him to Buddhism to guide him away from the destruction towards a more purposeful life.

Ever-eager, we had a conversation with Alex about the essays, his stint in rehab, Courtney Love (of course), mental health, and the stigma surrounding sexual addiction. …

Painted leather, a reinterpreted wedding gown, the graphic-tee, flamboyant and hot pink faux-fur — none of these are new ideas in fashion, but artist Patrick Church, with his youthful take on both ideas of illustrious fashion and garment revitalization, make these ever-present tropes in ready-to-wear feel progressive, not overwatered.
Church is a British multimedia artist whose “bold and playful looks” are a part of a collection that are 130 hand painted pieces, including briefs, blue jeans, leather and a wild pair of original Vetements + Manolo boots. The collection is Church’s first total body of work. Launching online last month, the assortment of garments are rich in commercial value but quite frankly just full of joy.

To say a bit more about the collection’s bold and playful identity, “bursting with color and character, each piece is entirely unique. Aspects of the human form are heightened with an infectious sense of fun and humor.” Modeled by three fresh faces that are also bold, playful and totally yummy, “each piece has its own serendipitous tale to tell.” And something tells me these models do too.

Perhaps the briefs are best worn at a summer party, or Sunday in bed with whoever you’re fornicating with on the Sabbath. The wedding gown is good for a first date; it doesn’t say too much though offers a sense of “I’m down for anything.” What would be your best bet is to begin with the t-shirt or leather, they are subtle enough to break necks on the Bowery and every fashionable street in between. …

As a millennial, two things are true: I like bright, shiny things and I’ve been inundated with excess since I could pay for my own things. Through junk jewelry marketed to children, subscriptions to recipe guides, or something as simple as magazines, I’ve found that my life can be traced as an episodic timeline of different collections I’ve amassed, intentionally or otherwise. One specific collection of mine operates in the world of bags and backpacks. When I was in my budding youth at the ripe young age of 14, I took a fond liking to the design in drawstring backpacks, and, going forward nothing was the same. Today, I own somewhere from twelve to fourteen backpacks, but trust, not all of them are cute.

Swiss designer Julian Zigerli and design house QWSTION have collaborated on three travel bags suited for needs both mundane and ostentatious. Zigerli is a progressive designer whose collections often mix playful textiles with serious construction. GAYLETTER loves his clothing (which you can be sure to find in our latest issue) and he has a very particular taste for fabrics. The bags make no exception.

QWSTION creates great bags that are simple and refined; a bit northern European, a tad minimalist, but all around chic. (I’ve made it a point not to buy another bag until there was an actual need to buy one, but if I’m going to break my promise to myself and buy another bag, I’d be glad to pick up one of these.) …

You are probably wondering what queens of the pink carpet are. Well, let us explain this to you right away. For those of you who haven’t attended RuPaul’s DragCon, upon entering, your day is made all the more fierce by a pink hand-tufted carpet that doubles as both a runway and a stage and is the length of a football field. Yeah, it’s gaggy!

While we were excited to see so many familiar Drag Race faces within our midst, the queens of the pink carpet are those who arrived in full looks and wore determined expressions on their painted faces. Traveling from all over the northeast corridor and some from across the globe, these girls nearly stole the show from the queens we’ve come to love and hate from their time on TV.

Violet Chachki, Miss Fame, Vander Von Odd, the Boulet Brothers, Trixie Mattel, Michelle Visage and T.S. Madison were all in attendance, plus RuPaul Charles himself and reigning Miss Drag Superstar, Sasha Velour. Queens offered photos, merchandise, or limited edition products at their booth, and though we were really impressed by the many talented artists exhibiting and selling at DragCon, we were most impressed by some looks.

New York has a large drag community, with countless hometown girls having walked their tucks onto Ru’s runway, so for the convention to finally touch down in the city was — for many attendees – a toot. After taking an hour or two to see who was hot and who was not, plus a brief run in with our favorite punk from season 8, Laila McQueen, we hit the convention grounds with our photographer Connor Atkins to stop a few queens of the pink carpet and pick at their brain beneath the wig to see what was up in their wonderful, international world of drag. …