At Happy Socks, we believe that you are only truly yourself when you can express all of you freely. We are committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community both during, and also way beyond Pride season. We love lending our platforms to wonderful individuals to cherish their fabulous existence, share their voices and lift important questions. This year we are taking you to a very unique community, where everyone is welcome to be who they are: the ballroom scene!
Since its beginnings in the 1920s and more widespread implementation in the 60s’ in New York, the ballroom culture has offered a safe space for primarily Black and Latinx LGBTQIA+ people. It has been a place where identity can be explored and played with. The ballroom scene is all about tapping into creativity, pushing conventions, and finding where we belong through judgment-free self-expression. It is also where chosen families and lifelong bonds are created.
To celebrate Pride, we partnered up with Musoke Productions – a Swedish community-based production company with the goal of bringing representation in front of, and behind the camera. Together, we’ve met three stars of the underground European ballroom community – Kenya, Angel and Naïmah – to hear about their personal experiences of the ballroom scene. They have worn outfits made of our revamped Pride socks, created by Saveja Awzel, a young designer recently graduated from Beckmans College of Design and a winner of NK Young Talent Award by Beckmans.
Have a glimpse of the scene that has positively impacted lives of many LGBTQIA+ people and continues to make its mark on mainstream pop culture. Find your extravagant eyewear, sit back, and enjoy the ballroom excellence!
"Showing up as yourself, not as who others perceive you to be, is a very pretty way of saying ‘fuck you’ to the people who said no."
"Showing up as yourself, not as who others perceive you to be, is a very pretty way of saying ‘fuck you’ to the people who said no."
Uganda-born and Finland-based Angel (they/ them), is a member of the House of Ninja and Meraki, and has been in the scene since 2019. They are also a model and founder of Your’s truly, Angel, a fashion brand with an ambition to create empowering garments for inspiring individuals that don’t fall into the norms of society – artists, performers, nonbinary people and sexworkers.
For Angel, participating in the ballroom scene has been a liberating experience that expanded their views of how they can use fashion to represent 100% of who they are.‘’I learned from ballroom that there’s no one way of looking as a woman, a man or a human being. It has taught me to be unapologetically myself and not live in fear of what others think.’’
‘’ Ballroom has taught me to look differently at things like music, dance, fashion. It opened my mind to more things that I can do in life.’’
‘’ Ballroom has taught me to look differently at things like music, dance, fashion. It opened my mind to more things that I can do in life.’’
Kenya (she/her) comes from Stockholm and has been in the scene for around 2 years. Her first, slightly random performance at a ball was a huge success. ‘’I didn’t know it was a thing in Stockholm. Then I ended up going to a ball and got two grand prizes, the first time!’’. At the moment Kenya is not a part of any house at the major ballroom scene and therefore called a ‘’007’’. However, she is a member of the House of Bodega in the Kiki scene – a subculture of ballroom that originated as a platform for the youth to partake in ballroom in a less competitive environment.
‘’When you choose your family, this is the feeling you should leave with: love.’’
‘’When you choose your family, this is the feeling you should leave with: love.’’
Naïmah Janse (she/her) is a woman of trans experience, trans activist and Mother of the House of ELLE in the Netherlands. She discovered ballroom culture in 2008 in her native island of St. Maarten. In 2020, Naïmah co-founded the Black Trans Art and Joy Fund, a non-profit organization that raises funds for black trans joy.
DONATIONS ALL YEAR ROUND
DONATIONS ALL YEAR ROUND
All products in our Pride Collection are available 365 days a year. They are not only a constant feature in our assortment, but also a way to give back to the LGBTQIA+ community. 10% of all their yearly sales are donated to a charity we partner up with every year.
In 2023, for the third time in a row, we’ve teamed up with InterPride, the international association for organizers of Pride events around the world. To date, our always-on program has raised over 160,000 USD. Happy Socks was awarded ”Outstanding InterPride Partner Organization '' in 2021.
