Getty Images

Jeremy Scott is excited to celebrate Pride in London, because the city’s revellers dance. “They are amped up to dance,” he smiles over coffees before his Cîroc-sponsored party in the capital. “New Yorkers are reserved; Californians are super reserved, but the kids in London get really into it; they have fun with it.”

The designer, who sits at the creative helm of Moschino as well as his eponymous label, signed up to work with the vodka brand (first to design a bottle, then to direct its campaigns and stage global gatherings) on the grounds that Cîroc is cheeky. “I love things that are up, up, up; fun and inclusive,” he says. “I’m a communicator. I need to bring my creativity and my world to people who don’t watch the runway shows online.”

King Of Camp Jeremy Scott Transformed Tracee Ellis Ross Into A “Literal Work Of Art” For The Met

As a gay man, who has been open about his sexuality since the age of 14 (he is now 43), he says watching the Pride movement gather pace has been like “seeing a huge wall tumble down”. He remembers attending his first parade in Kansas City as a high-school student. “I didn’t have anyone to go with because I didn’t have any gay friends, but I went all dressed up in cut-off jeans, a striped Gaultier vest and platform shoes,” he says. “Now, we have phones as great tools to look busy on, but back then you just had to put yourself out there.”

Getty Images

He praises his parents, who came from a “hunter gatherer” farming community, for their openness when he came out. “We weren’t cosmopolitan, and it was pre-internet, pre-Ellen DeGeneres coming out, pre-Glee, pre-Riverdale. They couldn’t see me mirrored in public figures or characters, but they took great understanding in what was foreign to them.”

Scott’s supportive network is not necessarily the norm for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. “In Missouri, trans people have experienced a huge backslide in their rights, because of hideous discriminatory practices, like bathroom laws,” he shares. “The media shows society as progressive, but in real life it can be archaic.” Scott believes parties, like his Pride celebration at Mayfair’s MNKY HSE, where he wore a tracksuit riffing on the Playboy bunny and bearing the word “Gayboy”, are important because there is a long way to go until we have open and accepting societies.

The commodification of Pride is not lost on Scott, however. “Let’s not fault people for trying to be inclusive even if sometimes it might seem fumbly,” he opines. “It’s extremely important to have visibility, so that people start to feel like they can’t be discriminatory against people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Then it will be easier for the younger generation to just be.”

Getty Images

Although he has always felt “at home” in the fashion industry, he recalls a time he was mocked by an air stewardess in front of an entire plane’s worth of passengers. “I was utterly shocked and upset that she had tried to humiliate me for being gay,” says Scott. “One person stood up for me. Now, people are ready to call out discrimination, but it wasn’t like that 15 years ago.” Scott’s urges everyone to call out any prejudice they see.

Has Jeremy Scott Reached Peak Pop Culture With His Sims Capsule?

He injects his personality into his designs, because he believes sexuality is at the core of fashion. “We dress to tell people who we are and what tribe we are in – and this can be influential,” Scott affirms. He recalls seeing a teenager wearing a headscarf just days after A$AP Rocky had his babushka moment in Gucci. “My clothes are humorous –because they are a tribute to my own ease and fluidity – but the floodgates have opened now when it comes to male and female labels. This should be celebrated.”

Has Pride Month Become More About Distraction Than Inclusion?

His attributes his own boundless creativity and enthusiasm for pop culture to his curiosity. “I feel like I’m an athlete that’s trained to design, like an Olympian,” says Scott. “I’m just constantly trying to engage with the world and watching my reactions to everything.”

“Young People Are Opening Our Eyes To Who & How We Can Love” – Edward Enninful On The Meaning Of Pride

To his younger self, he’d say “ride on, ride on sister”. But, he feels like he has played his cards just fine so far. “I‘ve been fearless and have always thought, ‘people will have to accept me as I am’”.

More from British Vogue:

Let's block ads! (Why?)