Fashionable cartography

Schitt’s Creek co-creator Dan Levy stumped up to the Met Gala this week in an outfit that screamed maps.

Putting Queers on the Map: Dan Levy's Look Brings LGBTQ+ Lexicon to The Met
Dan Levy at 2021 Met from back

I’ve got a lot of map clothing myself but I’ve never been this brave, though to be fair I’ve never been invited to the Met Gala which is an annual fundraising ball for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. It always invites outlandish celebrity costumes. But why did Levy choose to base his look on the world of maps?

Levy was wearing an outfit designed by Loewe and Cartier based on the image of two men kissing which was a design created by the late artist and activist David Wojnarowicz. Wojnarowicz’s art centred on sexuality, systematic discrimination, and the abandonment of the LGBTQ+ community in the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He died from AIDS in 1992, age 37. Much of his art was made from non-traditional materials, and some pieces used maps.

Levy’s outfit reflected the designer’s vision of celebrating “queer love and queer visibility”, but in so doing, also show that “there’s a lot more that needs to be done”

He wears it well and for the intent alone, this is my map of the week.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *