Curtis Cassell is making beautiful baroque pieces that can be worn on and off the aisle
Curtis Cassell aims to shake the binary stereotype within the bridal world with his label, Queera. It’s not the standard tuxedo or a princess wedding dress, but rather looks with a baroque, almost renaissance feel with high collars and exaggerated puffed sleeves, modernized with slices up and down the sleeves or ties trailing up the slit of a skirt. The pieces aren’t made to fit a specific person, but rather, everyone, especially those within the LGTBQ community.
While Cassell’s clothes have a fantasy touch, they’re based in architecture. The designer, who learned to sew from his mother and “old ladies on YouTube,” grew up in a small town in Ohio and left to attend a small college in Chicago where he studied graphic design and architecture with a concentration in furniture. “Everything was just so on the computer and the deeper I got into college, the more I needed to make things with my hands,” says Cassell.
After graduation, Cassell worked as a wedding caterer with a mostly LGBTQ staff. “The conversation always turned into what our weddings would look like,” says Cassell. “I was amazed at the first question we always ask each other, even as queer people, was, ‘Oh, do you want to wear a suit or a dress?’” While talking with a lesbian coworker about her upcoming wedding, Cassell started to conceptualize bridal designs. “I was sketching her in these tuxedo onesies.
Years later, and his line’s aesthetic has grown to be romantic with a Renaissance feel. “I refer to myself as a delusional romantic,” says Cassell. One blazer is sliced at the shoulder and elbow, fastened together with fabric. It reminds me of something Romeo would wear in a production ofOn the more extreme end, Cassell created a sheer, hand-beaded shirt dress with a fishtail train, worn by a male model in the lookbook.
Next, Cassell is branching out from bridal but creating more general formal wear. “It’s all bespoke,” he says. Ultimately, he also wants Queera to tap into a younger generation. “I’m trying to dress queer kids for prom and homecoming. I want to dress couples for their wedding. And the red carpet,” says Cassell. “I want my brand to be heavily involved in the LGBTQ community. That's very important to me.”The insider’s guide to what to shop and how to wear it.
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