We’re not exactly fashion-forward gays — at first, we assumed “Barneys” was a store for licensed merchandise from the children’s television show.
But the department store has really dazzled us with an amazing tribute to trans folks. Seventeen men and women grace the store’s new “Brothers Sisters Sons & Daughters” campaign. Some are professional models; others are just folks.
And we’re not talking about a few casual snapshots. Oh no: they’re photographed by industry giant Bruce Weber, and the catalogue includes interviews with each of them. They’re also pushing out video profiles, and you can watch one about the lovely couple Katie Hill and Arin Andrews above.
Barneys isn’t cynically commodifying queers here. They’re putting their money where their mouth is, with 10 percent of all sales on February 11 to LGBT nonprofits. Nice work all around by everyone involved. Creative Director Dennis Freedman explained that he saw LGBs making more progress than Ts, and so he wanted to give trans men and women a little boost to help them catch up.
“If gender is black and white, I’m gray,” said one model, party promoter Ryley Pogensky. Well put.