SUPERLUXE: PARIS IS BURNING
- 100% cotton, ultrafine jersey knit
- Heavyweight 12 oz / yd² fabric • 2x weight of classic Cola tee
- Classic Cola oversized fit
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Wash cold inside out, gentle / hang dry
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Made in the People's Republic of China at a factory certified by OKEO-TEX (product and environmental safety), GRS (recycling), BSCI and SLCP (workplace conditions), and the China Forest Certification Council (environmental standards).
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
I've always been inspired by LGBTQ+ people, maybe none more so than the cast of Paris Is Burning. The 1990 documentary follows performers in the drag-ball culture of late 1980s New York City. Nothing I say will do the film justice. I can't even explain why the it means so much to me. I'm hesitant to even try, because a nominally heterosexual white guy expressing his affinity with gay and trans people of color is fraught.
I will say two things:
I grew up in an apostolic Pentecostal Church. The following activities were forbidden: going to the movies, listening to the radio, going to dances, playing or attending sporting events, wearing shorts—and that's by no means an exhaustive list. In sixth grade a classmate mocked me for wearing my GI JOE t-shirt two days in a row. In that moment, I realized that clothing mattered. As I got into high school, I paid more attention to how I put outfits together. Girls talked to me about my clothes. Boys saw the girls talking to me. So, there it was: attention from girls and respect from boys. I had found my way into the world. My life's life course was charted.
The subjects in Paris Is Burning understood class signifiers, exclusion and inclusion, and community better than I ever will. I want to be very clear that I don't claim to understand the lived experiences of the participants. It's also true that I felt an immediate affinity for the performers. They created and inhabited their own reality. They found a way in. They were, at least inside the competitions, completely free.