- Title: ARGENTINA: Gay marriages spark a boom for fashion designers
- Date: 19th November 2011
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MALE COUPLES MODELLING VARIOUS OF FEMALE COUPLES MODELLING
- Embargoed: 4th December 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina, Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Business,Arts,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAEPOR9WYVGCYTRX1DHIAHHWZNQ
- Story Text: When Argentina became the first Latin American nation to approve same-sex marriage in July of last year, it opened up a new realm of business opportunities for the wedding fashion industry.
Laetitia Orsetti, a French woman who has been living in Buenos Aires for the past 11 years, thought she could capitalise. She set up a company, 'Fabulous Weddings', to plan same-sex marriages.
After over a year of putting together sometimes extravagant weddings, Orsetti is already branching out. On Thursday (November 17), she held a fashion show highlighting designers who are specialising in making gowns and suits for gay couples.
Gay models put on heavy make-up and sequins to prepare to hit the catwalk at a Buenos Aires hotel.
Orsetti said the show is the first of its kind, and hopes it will open up a new niche in fashion.
"Tonight we are going to present the first fashion show in the world with wedding dresses and tuxedos designed for gay men," she said.
Among the designers was Maria Pryor, who rolled out suits for gay men with twists on the traditional. Gowns for lesbian couples came in white and black and were flowing and elegant.
Pryor said making clothes for gay couples is natural for her.
"My concept in life about dressing people. I can dress anyone who has anything to do with what I do, with my style, my world. It doesn't matter who it is, because singling someone out because of their sex or what they do in their private life seems really terrible to me."
Designer Ezequiel Garcia used more lace and frills for his line of wedding gowns. He said weddings are no longer about fantasy, but about real women who are making real decisions.
"It's not like a costume for the bride, where they use gloves and crowns and fake bracelets. These are modern girls, and in that modernity they might like girls or boys. We try to make our dresses thinking about that," he said.
Suits for gay men looked similar to traditional groom suits, but were set apart by splashes of colour and sheen to pants and blazers.
The high point in the evening for the crowd came when drag queens in sequinned platform shoes modelled gowns.
"Tonight we are presenting couples who love each other. This fashion and design event is about love, intimate love with creativity, fashion, and happiness. Tonight the couples of boys and girls are going to be dressed by the best Argentine designers and we are going to celebrate with the Drag Queens, with dancers and singers. It's going to be great," Orsetti said.
Argentina is now among just a handful of nations to permit same-sex marriage, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Canada. Argentina's cosmopolitan capital, Buenos Aires, is known as a "gay friendly" tourist destination. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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