Intersectionality in the Fat Liberation Movement: Why Inclusion Needs More Than One Perspective

What happens when we stop asking whether there’s room for our bodies in fashion and start making the room ourselves?

That’s the idea behind IN/EX/CLUSIVE, an afternoon and evening of fashion, art, conversation, and community taking place at articule on September 27 as part of Montreal Fashion Week 2026. But our contribution to Montreal Fashion Week doesn’t stop there!

On September 23, we’re also excited to be part of something brand new: ACMI, the Association of Independent Fashion Designers, is launching its inaugural fashion show. The runway will bring together local independent designers for a show that puts the bodies, identities, and designs so often pushed to the sidelines of Fashion Week front and centre.

This year’s collections imagine an alternate 1950s. A world where queer and gender-nonconforming people are visible in fashion, and disabled bodies are part of the story. Vintage lingerie and bridal pieces meet gender-affirming garments, gaffs and binders sit alongside mid-century silhouettes, and mobility aids become part of the visual language rather than something to hide. It’s a fashion show from a 1950s that never existed, but definitely should have.

For us, the runway and IN/EX/CLUSIVE are part of the same larger conversation: who gets to be seen, who gets to participate, and who gets to decide what fashion is supposed to look like?

IN/EX/CLUSIVE takes that conversation off the runway and into the room. Created by Origami Customs and artist Elio Choquette, the event will bring together designers, artists, performers, organizers, advocates, and other creatives to talk about what inclusion actually looks like in practice.

There will be exhibitions, local vendors, artist presentations, mini-consultations, three bilingual roundtables, and plenty of opportunities to connect with the people behind the work. We’re especially excited about the panels, which bring together people who are actively challenging the systems that decide whose bodies belong in fashion, art, healthcare, public spaces, and culture.

Interview with Adania Reyes (they/them), founder of the Calgary Fat Liberation Convention and Fat Fashion Fair 

Last year, we had the pleasure of working with Adania Reyes, founder of the Calgary Fat Liberation Convention and Fat Fashion Fair. Their work was one of the inspirations behind IN/EX/CLUSIVE, and their perspective on fat liberation, accessibility, empathy, and community gets right to the heart of why we created this event in the first place.

So, as we get ready for our upcoming panels, we sat down with Adania to talk about what inclusive spaces can look like, what we all stand to gain when accessibility is centred, and what it might actually take to build a world where more of us can move through it with dignity, freedom, and a little more room to breathe.

Rae: 

The Fat Liberation Convention and IN/EX/CLUSIVE both bring panellists, designers, artists, performers, and more from various disciplines to create a fat liberation space. Why is it important to cast a broad net when talking about inclusion and accessibility?

Adania: 

It is imperative that different intersectionalities, points of view, and walks of life have a say in inclusion and accessibility, as our biases and life experiences shape not only how we navigate and perceive the world, but also how we voice those concerns and how we advocate for our needs. 

So having a variety of folks who experience life and have different needs will enrich our views of the world and ourselves in this world, and how we can best accommodate what folks require to live with dignity and ease, from a humane and empathetic point of view, and not solely from a profitable lens. 

That being said, we have to also recognize that we will likely not be able to include everyone's needs without excluding others; however, when you start seeing the needs of a group, that might include the needs of another.

Rae:  

What is it that lives at the heart of all of these inclusive practices- the through line here? Do you see it as creating the world we want to live in? Shattering expectations and norms for a world made for normative bodies? Simply reminding us what brings us together as human beings? Something else?

Adania: 

What lives in my heart in inclusive practices is empathy. Living through the hardship of a disability or being a minority helps build that empathy, but you don't need to live through it exclusively to realize we all deserve to live our lives with respect, dignity, and not only to contribute financially to the pockets of others who do not care that the world burns. 

It is creating a world where the basic needs are not only food, shelter, and water (which are becoming a luxury), but freedom of movement (immigration, travel, and joy in body movement), independence, community connections and belonging are part of those basics; and to build that empathy, we do have to shatter, shed and deconstruct what we believe to be "normal", what we believe to be "acceptable", and what we believe to be hard-line "reality".

Rae: 

What do we all have to gain when fat liberation/accessibility is centred, or enters the mainstream?

Adania: 

You and I will gain freedom. Not being controlled by propaganda. I imagine a fat liberation/accessibility centered world seeing folks accomplishing and living their dreams and what they love to do, because they don't have to fight others through systematic oppression nor themselves anymore. 

I see a world that is kinder, yet more objective, as ad hominem would be left behind. I see curiosity, inquiry, and science developing, as well as social justice, empathy, and advocacy for one another. 

Rae: 

What does it mean to you to be able to come to another event that was inspired by the one that you created? Did you ever think it would become a cross-Canada movement?

Adania: 

In all honesty, I created the Fat Fashion Fair out of my own need to belong, to find community in a land where I don't always feel welcomed, as a reassurance that it is okay to take up space as I am. 

It was my wish that it would help me find friends who shared some of my oniric utopian views, a bit out of vanity, because I like to do things that help me believe, and because I felt the "calling" to have such a large-scale event (to me, who had no such previous experience producing events). 

I am beyond words and humbled that In/Ex/Clusive would take inspiration from Fat Fashion Fair and make it an even more accessible event. I feel moved, honoured, and excited to see where these events lead us and how they can impact other people's lives, especially for the better.

Rae: 

What do you see as the future of fat liberation? What are some signs that will make you think "oh, we've done it!"

Adania: 

I believe the future of fat liberation is UNION; we should strive to unify our voices and know that if one of us is being oppressed, all of us will be. We need to advocate for each other, and not be segregated and divided.  

Signs of a better future are: Living without fear and diversity in art. 

For example, when we walk to a doctor's office and: 

1. We have a place to sit and/or wait without having to second-guess if we'd fit on any of the chairs or if they'll be able to support us.

2. Knowing that my doctor will not make judgments based on my gender and/or body shape.

3. My doctor would LISTEN and give me appropriate care for what I NEED, not based on what he assumes based on my gender and body. 

This is just a common example of something that folks who don't live in a normative body experience most of the time they go to the doctor. 

Also, diversity in Art such as film, theatre, photography, etc., where the main character is an array of shapes, colours, and ways of existing, and we are not reduced to being the comic relief or what needs to be fixed. 

Why These Voices Matter

Accessibility and inclusion don’t live in neat little categories. The barriers faced by a fat person, a disabled person, a trans person, or someone navigating multiple of these identities can look different, but they’re often shaped by the same question: who was this world designed for in the first place?

That’s why we wanted our panels to bring together people working across different disciplines, communities, and lived experiences. Fashion, architecture, art, performance, disability advocacy, community organizing, and accessibility might look like separate conversations, but they constantly overlap. What happens in one space can teach us something about another.

We don’t believe there’s one universal blueprint for inclusion. The more perspectives we bring into the room, the more we can challenge our assumptions, recognize needs we might not have considered, and build spaces that work for more people. And sometimes, the solution to one person’s access needs creates a better world for everyone.

That’s the through line running through IN/EX/CLUSIVE: we’re not just talking about making room for more people. We’re asking what happens when we build with each other in mind from the beginning.

Panellist spotlights:

Meet the eight people bringing those conversations to life:

1) Adania Reyes (they/them)

Founder of the Calgary Fat Liberation Convention and Fat Fashion Fair + performer + artist + model

Adania (they/them) is a queer Mexican  Multidisciplinary Artist, Performer, and Model residing in Mohkinstsis, Calgary. Currently a Drama Major at the University of Calgary, they've participated in the Elevator Project and are currently devising a Mainstage production for the University of Calgary. 

In 2005, they received the Ulua National Award for “Best Character Actress” in Mexico.

After moving to Canada, they started modelling in 2019, working with Parks Canada, Elections Alberta, and local clothing brands, soon specializing in helping the latter to expand their sizing availability. They've also walked the Toronto Plus Size Fashion Show in 2024. They have been performing Burlesque and Crudelesque for over three years. In 2025, they organized, produced, and brought to life Fat Fashion Fair, a gender- and size-inclusive Fashion Show and Convention, the very first of its kind in Calgary.

2) Naomie Caron (she/her)

owner + designer of selfish swimwear + founder and director of massimadi festival 

Naomie Caron (she/her) is the founder and designer behind SELFISH Swimwear, a Montreal-based swimwear brand created to celebrate individuality, body diversity, and self-love. With a background in fashion design, Naomie brings together her creative practice and her commitment to creating more inclusive spaces within fashion.

Through SELFISH, she challenges traditional beauty standards by designing swimwear that embraces a wide range of bodies, identities, and personal expressions. Her collections are locally made in Montreal and prioritize thoughtful, ethical production, while offering inclusive sizing and customization options to better reflect the diversity of the people who wear them.

SELFISH is ultimately an invitation to celebrate yourself, unapologetically.

3) Yasmine Wasfy (she/her)

Owner + designer of Boutique Lustre

Yasmine Wasfy (she/her) is the founder and main designer behind Boutique Lustre, a Montreal-based fashion brand. Since opening its doors in 2006, her practice is rooted in design, pattern-making, and fit, with a particular focus on creating clothing that works for a wide range of bodies. Through Lustre, she has spent the past 20 years exploring how thoughtful design and inclusive sizing can coexist with local, small-scale production.

4) Lako'tsi:rareh Amanda Lickers (she/they)

Curator  + designer + filmmaker + artist

Iako'tsi:rareh Amanda Lickers (Seneca of Six Nations of the Grand River, ON, based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Canada) is a Haudenosaunee artist, designer, and curator whose work explores the interconnected relationship of land-body sovereignty. Her work—which blends visual arts, installation and material cultures—has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. Lickers’ provocative aesthetic is rooted in relational consent-building, confronting dominant norms of consumption and access. 

Amanda’s lens-based practice investigates the place-keeping power of filmmaking, highlighting Indigenous technologies’ role in cultivating land-based futures. As a visitor experience designer, Lickers specializes in collaborative design that embraces the generative relationship between culture and the built environment.

5) Bawè Lambert aka Envy the Clown (they/he)

Performance artist + creater + artist

Bawè (they/he) is a multidisciplinary performer and artist based in Tiohtià:ke / Montréal, working across draglesque, clowning, burlesque, photography, and visual storytelling. Their work blends strong stage presence with intentional aesthetics, drawing from lived experience to create performances and images that are bold, emotive, and memorable. Alongside performance, they bring skills in branding, marketing, and content creation, allowing him to develop cohesive visuals and concepts both on and off stage. 

Bawè is also an experienced facilitator and educator, grounded in harm reduction and transfeminist approaches, with a practice rooted in care, accessibility, and collaboration.

6) Léo Gauthier (they/them)

Dancer + performance artist + disability justice

Léo Gauthier is an emerging contemporary dance artist and disability advocate based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, with a strong interest in crip art. They love to reflect on the collaboration of atypical bodies within the dance world, and even more on the richness of movement possibilities that emerge from them. Their disability justice advocacy centers cross-disability and cross-movement organizing. They will also try literally any art form they can get their hands on.

Léo dreams about a world where the art produced by disabled artists is recognised and sought for the richness of their unique perspective without it being the only thing people define them or understand them by.

7) Rosie Bourgeoisie (they/them)

Founder of “Them Fatale” gender diverse burlesque event + performer + producer + designer

Rosie Bourgeoisie (they/them) is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary Māori artist, performer, producer, educator, and community organizer who has been active in Montreal’s underground arts scene for over a decade. Rooted in live performance and theatre, their practice moves between cabaret, costume and image-making, teaching, and collective organizing. 

Their relationship with fashion also grew out of necessity: as a fat artist navigating an industry where access to expressive, well-fitting clothing remains limited, they studied patternmaking and made-to-measure garment construction. 

Rosie explores the body, fashion, and self-presentation as sites of creativity, pleasure, resistance, and reclamation. Their work creates space for queer and marginalized bodies to be seen and celebrated beyond conventional standards of beauty, desirability, gender, and ability.  

With love, glitter, and rage, Rosie’s work imagines other ways of relating to ourselves, to one another, to culture, and to the world—rooted in collective care, accessibility, resistance, and liberation.

8) And of course, Origami Customs!

Come Meet Them This Week at IN/EX/CLUSIVE!

Reading about this work is one thing. Getting these people in a room together is another. That’s what we’re most excited about with IN/EX/CLUSIVE. Bringing together people working across fashion, art, performance, disability justice, community organizing, and accessibility creates space for conversations that simply don’t happen when we keep these issues in separate boxes. These are people actively building new ways of creating, moving through, and taking up space in the world, and we can’t wait for you to meet them.

Join us TONIGHT on the runway for the ACMI Fashion Show at 7:00 pm at Montreal Biodome Hall (Espace pour la vie)! 

And then join us at Articule on September 27 for an afternoon and evening of exhibitions, fashion, art, roundtables, presentations, vendors, and community. Come curious, come ready to listen, and come ready to question some of the ideas we’ve been taught about whose bodies belong in creative spaces.

We’re building the kind of room we want to see more of. We hope you’ll come join us.