Last Thursday at The Altman Building in Chelsea, Grindr staged what may be the most sudden runway present of the 12 months.
Aptly titled I Wool Survivethe present was a collaboration with designer Michael Schmidt and Rainbow Wool, a German nonprofit that rescues homosexual sheep. Yes, you learn that accurately. One in twelve rams is in truth homosexual and, like all queer communities on this local weather, they too want defending. Sigh.
What unfolded was half woolen fantasy fever dream, half queer political assertion — and, in a post-ironic-cool cultural local weather, a uncommon second of earnestness that simply made you smile.
Schmidt, who has dressed icons like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, confirmed 36 seems to be made completely from the wool of rams who go for ram-on-ram romance, animals that, in keeping with Rainbow Wool founder Michael Stücke, are sometimes forged off or slaughtered in the agricultural business. Rainbow Wool rescues these animals, spins their wool into yarn, and now, by way of this collaboration with Grindr, turns that yarn into wearable queer iconography.
Styled by Alec Malin, with hair by Charlie Le Mindu and glam by Frankie Boyd, the present introduced a parade of characters pulled from deep inside the homosexual psyche — leathermen, sailors, firefighters, jocks — all rendered by way of Schmidt’s playful lens. There was nothing sheepish about the silhouettes, sorry I couldn’t let that one go by.From a knit hospital robe, a should for any playing-doctor fantasy, to a set of farmer’s overalls, no archetype was left unaccounted for.
What might’ve simply tipped into parody as an alternative felt oddly honest. There was one thing grounding about seeing the traditional self-seriousness, pomp, and posture related to a runway present give strategy to unfettered pleasure.
You chortle at the concept of homosexual sheep, I did too. Then you understand they simply silenced each conservative assume tank with a single bleat. “Hopefully, by illustrating that homosexuality exists throughout the animal kingdom, we can help put to bed the false and damaging notion that being gay is a choice,” Schmidt mentioned.
Grindr positioned the occasion as an extension of its mission to foster queer connection past the app, a sentiment that might’ve veered into hole brand-speak if the execution hadn’t felt so thoughtfully layered.
After the present, the crowd of downtown denizens made their strategy to the after-party at The Eagle, sponsored by Woodwork, Grindr’s ED telehealth service. No one appeared completely certain what that they had simply witnessed, however most agreed it felt singular. And for a venture rooted in queer empowerment, possibly that’s the most sincere takeaway — one thing unusual, honest, and fully its personal.