SLEEK’s favourite glitch-knitwear designer, Yamuna Forzani is not into the fashion week hype. “Fuck [this] elite fake influencer bullshit parade,” The Hague-based designer wrote on her Instagram during the swarm of boujee booked-seat events and guestlist spots — “Let’s make our own parade!” And, she did, inviting whoever would listen to tourist hotspot Trafalgar Square, where the queer creative hosted an alternative and inclusive fashion performance injected with a whole lot of ballroom realness. “I wasn’t seeking validation from these fashion people,” Forzani explains. “The message was more about celebrating queer fashion in a public free space together in the sun.” Forzani’s intentions were, as always, honourable, drawing attention to fashion’s unsavoury underbelly, the one it desperately tries to hide behind its perfectly polished Insta persona, but that IRL can’t be squished into its size zero jeans. “It’s so elitist and LAME!,” Forzani insists. “I just wanted it to be fun and silly.”
A fierce take on the flash-mob phenomenon, Forzani called the show a “positive protest” — enlisting the help of vogue dancers from the London ballroom scene to throw shapes and serve looks courtesy of the Newcastle-born designer. The famous tourist haunt was transformed into a open, optimistic and queer space, nurtured by Forzani (and her crew) in order to counteract the typical “fashion” parade. “It’s so expensive to show your creativity,” Forzani explains. “I just wanted to do something fun and free.”
Check out scenes from the “positive protest” below.
Photography by David Morrison