Easy On The Queer Eye

For members of the LGBTQIA + community, fashion is more than just a trend. It’s about establishing a sense of self.

- Ria Jaiswal

Queer fashion is resistance, it is rebellion, it is comfort, it is survival. But above all, it’s a celebration of still being here,” declares 24-year-old transwoman and fashion stylist Taksh Sharma, who believes queer people have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to aesthetics. For members of the LGBTQIA+ community, whose everyday includes breaking traditions and preconceived notions, and revelling in their true self, queer fashion is more than just a term on a trend report. It is a way for them to indulge in self-expression and their individuality.

“Fashion allows you to tell your story,” believes creative and artistic consultant, stylist and co-founder of Item Number (a Hyderabad-based kitsch brand) Inderjit Nagi, whose experiments with fashion began when he enrolled himself into fashion school. “As a child, I played around a lot with my style. But, learning how to design, stitch and drape pushed me one step ahead. I would conceptualise and tailor women’s garments for myself and then wear them to gay parties. As a homosexual man, I tried all kinds of clothing. I needed to know who I was, and I used fashion to give me the best insight to myself and to tell my story unabashedly,” he explains while adding, “one’s sense of style also sends a message saying ‘Hey, I exist!’ and that, for me, is liberating”.