OUT June 2021

One of my favorite parts of summer is waking up to the sound of birds. It reminds me of when my family and I would vacation at a Texas lake near an old dirt road. I remember waking up to the smell of buttered jam biscuits, sunlight at the foot of my bed, and an orchestra of birds that seemed to be chirping only for me. In my life, birds have always represented hope, rebirth, and the start of a new chapter. I’ve thought a lot about this in recent weeks as memories of last year’s Pride month continue to flood my mind with both grief and renewed purpose. In June 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests permeated our lives at the same time Pride marches turned virtual, many small LGBTQ+…

Lots of names are making offbeat fashion choices and you know what? I love it! From the revived Prada Linea Rossa line comes another ’90s-inspired frame while Italian luxury brand Persol (one of the oldest eyewear makers in the world) topped their evolutionary Steve McQueen model with a runway of new shades. Barton Perreira’s new Akahi Sulcata Tortoise/Smokey Topaz frames redefine gender neutral to include big and bold like never before and their tortoise counterpart (left) are my new summer obsession. But they get a run for the money from this season’s other hot models:…

Honduran botanical artist Lutfi Janania knows how to create opulence using distinguished dry and dehydrated natural materials that convey a sense of multiple spaces between life, the divine, and ourselves. Creating these magical designs from his Brooklyn studio, the queer creator pushes boundaries with his handcrafted sculptures through his design studio, Rosalila, which showcases and sells his most recent works. Out sat down with the designer to talk about what inspires his artistry. Check out a selection of his work below. Out: What drew you to botanical design? I’ve been surrounded by nature for as long as I can remember. I was fortunate to grow up in a bio reserve in Honduras and was able to be in touch with this kind of beauty firsthand. This luscious, tropical environment was the backdrop…

For many of us, crystal has been associated with a “look, don’t touch” policy. Though gorgeous to observe and feel, my family treated crystal as a special affair meant only for weddings and holidays, tucked away in my grandmother’s display case. But, thankfully, that was then and this is now. Jim Shreve, the gay president and CEO of Baccarat, North America, has spent the last five years rejuvenating the 257-year-old French-based company to bridge the gaps between old and new, luxury and necessity, niche and mainstream. A former executive at Diesel and Façonnable, Shreve has used his fashion background as well as his own life experiences with his partner of 25 years, Mark Brashear, the first gay executive at Nordstrom, to create new lines of products, marketing campaigns, and internal business…

Leading LGBTQ+ travel company Vacaya has seen record-breaking bookings for its trips since the U.S. election and vaccination news turned the tide on travelers’ perspectives. That being said, its travel packages are exactly what we need to start our post-pandemic life on the right track. “It’s so exciting the LGBTQ+ community is leading the way in bringing travel back,” says Vacaya CEO Randle Roper. “And during Pride Month, all of us here at Vacaya are so proud of the work we’ve done in leading that charge and advancing LGBTQIAPK unity. For so long, we’ve been segregated into our own tribes — only really coming together with any consistency during Pride month. With Vacaya’s mission to throw the doors of LGBTQ+ travel wide open to our entire community, we all get to…

The closest you can get to a Caribbean vacation without leaving the U.S. is on the strip of land between Key Largo and Key West, a chain of tropical islands that stretch 120 miles off the tip of Florida, with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Our newest hotspot is Playa Largo Ocean Residences, an exclusive gated enclave of private vacation houses with distinct Florida Keys architecture that’s part of—but secluded from—Playa Largo Resort & Spa. These new vacation rentals utilize gorgeous designs (with Florida’s indigenous materials like capiz shell, sponges, and coral rocks) and they sit directly across from the resort, between a nature preserve and the Atlantic Ocean. These new three and four-bedroom Ocean Residences offer all the perks and privacy of…