For the month of June, LGBTQIA* folks and allies across New England come together in thoughtful reflection and celebration of Pride, which highlights progress since the Stonewall Riots. While much progress has been made, it is also an important time to reflect on what work our LGBTQIA* communities need to do in order to promote inclusivity, safety, and basic civil rights in the face of a hostile political system. We at Take want to acknowledge this important month by highlighting the artists whose work engages with LGBTQIA* themes and issues, as well as the creatives who claim these sexuality, minority, and gender non-conforming identities. All the folks featured on this list enlivened our editorial by challenging normative understandings of gender, sexuality, and identity in general through their unique work.

The following stories are about all kinds artists: previously pregnant butch dykes, rural drag queens of color, cis gay Asian-Americans, trans femmes, lesbian separatists, non-binary babes, and many individuals and groups of people whose identities aren’t as easily summarized. This diversity in our editorial exists because that is the diversity of our region. Though it’s true that we live in a society that constantly works to erase and delegitimize the existence of LGBTQIA* people, we’re still finding artists and cultural leaders who boldly embrace this sometimes fraught, yet always beautiful, spectrum of existence.

While we are proud to present our highlighted list of artists we’ve covered since January 2015, we’re not so naive to think that these are the only LGBTQIA* folks we’ve featured. While some artists openly share their identities with our staff and contributors, other artists have asked us to keep their identities off the record, or choose to never disclose for privacy and safety concerns.

Take is proud to feature these artists and our team will work harder to bring you more creative voices from the LGBTQIA* community as we expand our web edition and return to print this fall.

Massachusetts

Car Wash

Wading In

This Ain’t No Game

Comfort & Discomfort

Catastrophe in Provincetown

The Insider’s Take: Eternal Slumber Party

Come Closer

Tender, Forever

Becoming The Gold Dust Orphans

Facebook-to-Face

The Kids Are Alright

Cave and the Art of Community

Connecticut

Women of Abstraction

Gender Bender

Feminine Mystique

BL&D Interview – Arien Wilkerson

From Clay to Catastasis

Life is Gross

Sacred Stones

Crossing Equators with Arien Wilkerson

Maine

Portland’s Cherry Lemonade

Notes from an Expat: Where Are You From

Not-so-Little Women

Take Q&A: Crystal Williams—Writer, Advocate, Advisor

Slow Boat to Iceland

The Simple Power of the Cup

New Hampshire

Manchester’s “Sexy Industrialist”

Hood is Downtown…For Now

Rhode Island

Kitty Eyes & Spandex

Taken: Todd Oldham at RISD

Rachel Blumberg Sees And Hears More Than You

Hustler of Providence

Aurora Catalyzes Variety and Community in Providence

ART/Crush: J.R. Uretsky

Meet Rhode Island’s Newest City Boy

Nine Months in Drag

Vermont

The Rainbow Cattle Co.

Make Some Time for Angus McCullough

What Happened Before Homosexuals?

New England

Artists to Watch 2017

10 New England Tattooers You Need to Follow on Instagram

7 New England Niche Film Festivals You Can’t Miss

The post Take Magazine Pride Month Round-up appeared first on Take Magazine.

Ready-to-wear clothing is drearily ubiquitous. Google “Dior T-shirt” and see for yourself. It is, therefore, an immensely pleasant treat to find an RTW label that is so special that you are, in fact, ready to wear it. And you’ve got to do so right this very second. Truly, Internet shipping methods are not fast enough to get the latest Pretty Snake apparel from Rhode Island designer Joseph Aaron Segal into your hands.

Clothing by Joseph Aaron Segal

“I would say my stuff is fun and exotic and adventurous,” Segal tells me one rainy Providence morning. “I try to keep everything fresh. The way I make patterns is something I can’t control.” And lo, bright tongue-in-cheek prints crisscross on sleek spandex silhouettes and dare you to try them on. Chuckling, Segal says, “I’m competing with big stores that are selling things for way less money, [though] I don’t think my fans will spend more than $100.”

Fans are truly what they are. Segal’s designs are so popular that he continually receives offers for collaborations, and even said big stores like Urban Outfitters can’t order enough of his merchandise. Young shoppers care about local fashion, and Segal’s pieces offer more character, ingenuity, and frank sophistication than the marginally cheaper options.

Clothing by Joseph Aaron Segal

Segal’s story is as enticing as his brilliant pieces. After seeing some glass eyes sewn onto a cat sweater at a thrift shop, Segal took a cat design from his days at the Rhode Island School of Design, knitted it onto a smart pullover, and then finished the kitties off with a handful of plastic eyes. Within a year, the sweaters were so popular on Etsy that Segal was selling them as fast as he could produce them out of his basement. Beyond cat sweaters, Segal impressed as one of the final four designers on season 11 of Project Runway in 2013. Pretty Snake has since expanded into menswear, womenswear, and accessories. Now Segal has the finances to not only continue Pretty Snake but also grow his high-end line, World of JAS.

Clothing by Joseph Aaron Segal

“With the high-end stuff is where I get to play more with materials and fibers and construction,” Segal says of World of JAS. Indeed, metallic prints, experimental knits, and crisp structure make World of JAS a real powerhouse for innovative design. “That market is more in New York—half the battle is just being in New York. But I feel like for what I’m doing, being in New England is actually perfect.”

Clothing by Joseph Aaron Segal

All of the fabric, printing, and production for Pretty Snake happens here in New England. Segal sources local textiles, and he says it’s easier than in New York. “With the Internet, you really don’t need to live anywhere specific, you just need to time production right!”

Top photo ready-to-wear clothing by Joseph Aaron Segal | All photos by Izzy Berdan

The post Kitty Eyes & Spandex appeared first on Take Magazine.