Michael and Josean Vargas-Rodriguez have been in the fashion industry for over a decade and started by making accessories from their 700-square-foot apartment.
“Luci and Dona naturally evolved about five years ago where a lot of our queer family were seeking someone to make clothing for them or just have someone fit something for them that was understanding of the special needs of both Trans and queer individuals,” said Michael Vargas-Rodriguez, co-owner of Luci and Dona Boutique on Monroe Avenue in Rochester.
The brand Luci and Dona was inspired by their drag names and now their gender-fluid clothing business has evolved into something much bigger with a new storefront location.
“What really inspired us to create this space was our own need to be creative and be open and have a space where we could be ourselves,” said Josean.
“We realized we really wanted to be more visible especially today with a lot of anti-drag, anti-trans issues going on nationally, internationally as well, so it was really important to not be so hidden anymore,” said Michael.
A survey last year by Klarna and Dynata found that the United States is leading the way with gender-fluid fashion with 36% of U.S. consumers that purchased fashion outside of their gender identity in 2022 but there is still work to be done.
“Like right now the programs that I’m using to create some of the patterns that I want won’t let me use measurements unless I say I’m using a female or a male body,” Josean said. “A body is a body and a pattern is a pattern, you know, it doesn’t matter how the person identifies as long as it fits the right, your waist your chest and your hips.”
And they want to show the community that fashion doesn’t have to be about gender.
“There are days where, both of us for example, we might dress a little bit more masc. [or] we might dress a little bit more feminine,” Michael said. “It’s kind of how we’re feeling that day and gender fluid gives us the freedom to just kind of express how we’re feeling that day and wear what we want.”
“We can celebrate the masculine and the feminine within my own body without having to erase one or the other,” said Josean.
Because for Luci and Dona, it’s all about expression.
“No matter if it’s a flannel shirt and a pair of boots or a pair of stilettos and a silk dress, is just bringing forward a part of telling the people who I am,” Josean said. “[It’s] a piece of the story, not everything.”
Source : Spectrum News 1
