Culture D-Tour: Raffa Reuther Creates Playful, “Gender-Euphoric” Fashion For All
Longtime Detroit designer and artist brings something new to the city’s fashion scene.
Courtney Wise Randolph writes about Detroit’s movers and shakers for Detour Detroit. Once a month, she stops by CultureShift to chat with a notable Detroiter. This month, she talks with Raffa Reuther.
Gone are the days of gender-specific threads that check the invisible “his or hers” box. When it comes to fashion, there’s room and freedom to color outside the lines and really experiment. There’s room to spark an industry revolution and trust your sense of style and your personality to pull the look together and make it pop.
That’s the energy behind Raffa, a hand-sewn clothing line from Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist Raffa Reuther. They had a vision and desire to create a “gender-euphoric” experience through fashion that made them feel affirmed in their body and identity. Reuther designs with various shapes, patchwork and colors to create pieces with an artistic aesthetic while still being durable and practical in its wear.
Get to know Raffa Reuther in this Detour Detroit article.
“This rose out of a need that I saw for myself,” Reuther says. “The inspiration started, as a queer person, as a non-binary person struggling to find clothes that didn’t show off my body in ways that didn’t make me feel good. The playfulness is very intrinsic with who I am and what I want the brand to be. I wanted to create that experience and make sure that the clothes I was making were also functional and would last.”
Listen: Raffa Reuther talks about the inspiration for starting the brand and clothing line.
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