Five days and some 30 shows into New York Fashion Week, and a designer finally has the guts to speak out against the new administration’s obvious attacks on the LGBTQI+ community. 

His name is Raul Lopez, and his brand is Luar, whose latest collection was a great gutsy, provocative lust for love display. It’s title was “El Pato”, taken from a Spanish street slang homophobic slur, meaning “The Duck”, but implying someone is effeminate or queer. 
 
“It’s a term I wanted to reclaim. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, a Dominican Republic family in a primarily Puerto Rican neighborhood. The son of the super, so people would sneer “El Pato,” he explained.

The collection riffed on childhood images, of a young man playing with his hair like his mom, putting towels on his head, or wrapping jewelry around ankles. Paying homage to icons of the ballroom community, with nighttime jersey fabrics used as party gear – Nureyev in the neighborhood.

“I come from an era where the caucasians got the diamonds and the pearls. While in the hood, you get the mink and fur and earrings and you are a happy doll,” insisted an energized Lopez in the backstage, as he embraced his mother.

Luar cut with a scalpel – from diagonally slashed tunics to fantasy pencil-thin pants suits in a muddy crocodile print. Or gathered chiffon skirts worn with high-tech leather blousons – the best of all on model Joan Smalls. Followed by a fantastical Martha Graham body stocking-meets-cape look that brought the first of many cheers from his ecstatic front row. Topped by fabulous bouffant space commander denim jackets – an after-hours Lieutenant Uhura in Bed-Stuy.
 
One T-Shirt even read in Spanish, ‘I talk shit about you,’ a Latino reply to others who would not respect their difference. 

Asked about the flurry of Trump’s Executive Orders banning transexuals from the military and targeting drag queen performances in the Kennedy Center in Washington, Raul gave a robust response.
 
“I am not going in the closet for nobody. I had to fight to get where I am in an era where it was not cool to be me. Where I had strikes against me for being Latino, being flamboyant, being gay and dressing the way I do, and I’m not going in the closet for nobody ever again. We are at a point in our lives, where we need to tell people we are here, and we are not going anywhere! And the end of the day, we f*cking built this place. So let’s all unite. This brand is a platform to bring people together and enjoy a time of prosperity, love, abundance and joy,” he insisted to much applause.