Bull & Dagger Founder, Meera Amin, Talks to Gay Star News About the Brand & London Queer Fashion Show
Original article here by Shannon Power for Gay Star News
“The London Queer Fashion show is more important than ever”
It's probably the most diverse and inclusive catwalk in the world
“Four years ago Meera Amin’s best friend was getting married, but they couldn’t find anything to wear that they were comfortable in, so Amin started the UK’s first genderqueer fashion label.
‘There was nothing in the UK market… I just couldn’t find anything (gender neutral) in the UK,’ Amin told Gay Star News.
So out of necessity they launched Bull & Dagger, the first fashion label of its kind to service the genderfluid market. Amin is reclaiming the term ‘Bulldagger’, which was once a derogotary term for women who ‘chose to eschew the confines of socially accepted gender boundaries’.
‘It is clothes that fit a range of different gender expressions and different body types,’ Amin said.
Bull & Dagger’s clothes are not only great for all gender identities but they are also flamboyantly stylish.
‘We wanted to have a bit of an edge, pieces you could add to your wardrobe that were statement pieces and for occasions as well,’ Amin said.
‘Clothes that are for everyone but have a bit of detail and style as well.’
London Queer Fashion Show
Bull & Dagger is very much a passion project for Amin who works full time during the day as a researcher. So they have to take every opportunity to showcase their label and let the queer community that there is amazing fashion for them that exists out there.
That’s why Bull & Dagger is walking the second London Queer Fashion Show. It’s the city’s most diverse and inclusive fashion show. More than 10 LGBTI designers are walking the show with 100 models of all genders, races, sexualities and abilities.
Organizers described last year’s inaugural show as an ’emotionally charged and defiant event’.
‘What’s great about it is that it’s a queer show, it’s got a real mix of designers and models,’ Amin said.
‘It’s really nice to see that diversity in a fashion show.’
More than 1,000 people are expected to fill the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood on 21 September to watch established and emerging fashion designers. Some of the designers on show include; Plus Equals, Poca London, Vytoldas Miliauskas, Yodah Williams, Cause Perdue, Cochevelou, Rickielee Drayford, Livia Rita and Not Applicable.
‘The hunger for representation that the queer community now demands is finally being met with our unique event. If main stream labels aren’t able to reflect our identities, then we will do it ourselves,’ said LQFS CEO Robyn Exton.”