Imagining a Queer Utopia

In my brand NICOLE MELNICKY, I utilize feminine silhouettes, raw embellishment, colour, bold graphic prints, digital textiles, sequins, and beading details to create one-of-a-kind and unique fashion garments. My brand NICOLE MELNICKY is for a queer womenswear customer who is confident and assertive in who they are. I design for a customer who wants to be seen, heard and a customer who is unafraid to speak up and stand out in a crowd. I confront and challenge the notions of gender, sexuality, and feminism placed on queer female bodies. My designs overcome the power of subversion by utilizing bright, bold colours and juxtaposing them with adorned embellishments and details. By dismantling and embracing the 1970s punk fashion movement of rebellion, I liberate and empower my queer womenswear customer to “show-off.” I uplift and invigorate a resilient sense of pride through bold fashion. I challenge these patriarchal perspectives and hegemonic norms placed on women’s bodies. With feminine lux fabrics, digital textiles, and unique surface embellishment, I design for an unapologetic woman who stands strong in their queer identity. She is fearless and unafraid to wear bold and bright colours. My garments build a dichotomy of vulnerability embraced within the security of costume by exposing the construction details and raw structural elements within the garments. My garments become the “armour of pride” by embodying, exposing, and performing identity through fashion. My garments “claim” queer identity, loud and proud, through the wear of colour and raw construction with unyielding power, play, glitz, and flamboyance. Hence, I evoke an eternally bound manifestation of pride.