Couturiers without closets: fashion makes way for a new breed of designers who think hiding their sexuality is so last season. (Fashion).

For a new generation of gay and lesbian designers, the closet is hopelessly out of style: "Being out is just the easiest way to live," says French designer Pierre-Henri Mattout. But when it comes to business these gifted gay men and lesbians carefully nurture their brands. They're cautious, not wanting to burn too brightly too early. The Advocate talks with three young designers who are unapologetically out, business savvy, and poised to trade up into fashion's major leagues.

Heatherette

It would be hard to miss the camp in the work of Heatherette, the label of cofounders and boyfriends Richie Rich and Traver Rains. "I worked in the Ice Capades, and Traver came from the Western riding circuit, so there is definitely a camp element in both our backgrounds," says Rich. Their latest runway show, held in February during New York's Fashion Week, mixed a rhinestone-studded jockstrap, Hello Kitty prints, and references to the 1978 Faye Dunaway fashion thriller The Eyes of Laura Mars.

Such allusions to gay culture "just come naturally," says Rich, but he doesn't think this has affected the marketability of Heatherette's wares. "Right now a lot of gay men are dressing like straight men did last year, and a lot of straight men dress like gay men of a couple years back." Rich's belief in the breaking down of barriers is backed up by the financial capital of Sanrio, the multinational corporation that hired Heatherette to create a Hello Kitty couture line to be featured during Los Angeles Fashion Week in April.

Still in their 20s, Rich and Rains got their start in 1999 when a fashion buyer for Patricia Field saw Rains partying in a leather top he'd designed for himself--and ordered 20 copies on the spot. Now Heatherette's punk T-shirts often come tie-dyed or silk-screened, frequently with images of New York downtown goddess Amanda Lepore. And their main line of womenswear expands a little each season. Fans can now choose among wholly accessible casual pieces, midrange trashy-chic party dresses, and, according to the PR-conscious Rich, "a few unreachable items--because that's what gets the attention."

Liz Collins

When asked about a 200t article in The New York Observer in which Barneys New York executive vice president of creative services Simon Doonan associated her with "the great lesbian fiber-art collectives of the 1970s," Liz Collins replies: "He totally gets it." Her aesthetic "is about a love of women's bodies," she explains. "I have a feminine to design that isn't about trends; about my emotional landscape."

That in part accounts for the variety of moods the 34-year-old brought forth since her runway debut in February 2000. Collins's designs have always conveyed a sophistication in the fabrics--not surprising for a Rhode Island School of Design graduate with a master of fine arts degree in textiles. But the dresses in her spring-summer 2003 collection displayed a new level of elegance that included hints of the 1920s, especially striking for a designer who was initially hailed as neopunk. Those who saw a new direction for Collins were just as surprised by the playful turns taken in her latest New York Fashion Week show in February, such as a cashmere baseball sweater and a stole made of sock monkeys.

For men, the good news from that collection is a first-ever line of sweaters--inspired, says Collins, by the economics of trying to make it as a young designer. "I have made sweaters unofficially for years as currency to pay a lot of talented men I work with," she says. "Just from word of mouth, men now ask me on almost a daily basis for them. So I knew the time was right."

Pierre-Henri Mattout

"Not flashy but calm and subtle, very dressy yet casual" is how Pierre-Henri Mattout describes his spring-summer 2003 line. "In some ways it looks like me." Thoughtful and precise, the 30-year-old Frenchman does convey a seriousness beyond his years, but his lively laugh hints at a flamboyant streak. Fashion observers saw this side in his very first collections, when his menswear was saturated with delicate floral prints. And in his spring-summer 2003 line there is a tuxedo that uses varnish rather than satin to achieve burnished highlights on the black matte fabric.

"I started my own line five years ago," says Mattout, whose career arguably began long before that--when he designed his own bar mitzvah suit. "My first market was the U.S. Barneys New York, and Saks Fifth Avenue took a shirt collection." From there--with his identical twin brother, Jerome, as a business partner--Mattout successfully entered Europe's crowded capitals and promoted the brand in Asian markets. Now his just-married brother has scaled back his involvement, and Mattout is back in New York, showing his ninth collection, confronting the hurdle of renewing his presence here during tough economic times.

Although Mattout concedes that his sexuality may draw him to designing for men ("Some people ask me to design ladies' collections, but I do not feel ready yet"), he doesn't see his aesthetic as gay. "I don't focus on just one type of person," he insists. "I am very open-minded."

Bryant is a former executive editor of Library Journal. Vargas is a freelance stylist who has worked with Vogue, Paper, and other publications.