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NYT Profiles the Amazing "Fashion Forward DJ" Miss Honey Dijon

Thanks to Monica Roberts for the heads-up. If there is one thing that  you read during lunch, make sure that it is the New York Times profile of Rod 2.0 favorite and turntable goddess Miss Honey Dijon.

The Chicago-born DJ and producer created a name for herself in the early 00s by performing amazing deep house sets in intimate settings and massive club rooms across the globe. In recent years Miss Dijon has created a singular brand at "the nexus of art, fashion and night life" as she spins live for Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and other runway collection, reports NYT fashion critic Alex Hawgood.

The fact that Honey Dijon is transgender has caused barely a shrug in the widening circles that have embraced her. Style.com routinely features her as a talking head alongside industry power players in its video reviews of ready-to-wear collections. ...

In January, Vogue Italia chose a snapshot of Ms. Redmond wearing thick blue-frame glasses and a floral print blouse by Givenchy as its 'Look of the Day,' praising her personal style as a "mix of femininity, androgyny and irony, which is always cool." The top was a gift from her friend Riccardo Tisci, the label’s designer. In an e-mail, Mr. Tisci wrote: "I’ve known Honey for a long time. I love her style and I like her playing with her masculine and feminine sides."

And:

Ms. Redmond grew up in the 1970s on the South Side of Chicago in a “very middle-class, loving African-American family,” she said. Her young parents often gave parties in their basement on Friday nights and invite their son, who identified as female from an early age, to lift the needle on the record player between songs from artists like the Isley Brothers and Minnie Riperton. “That’s where I got my first education in music,” she said.

Ms. Redmond thought that going public about her transition, which took place after moving to New York (where “there was more of a community”) might help broaden notions about feminine ideals of beauty in the fashion and D.J. worlds.

"I’ve always wanted my talent to speak for itself,” she said. "I didn’t want ‘black’ or ‘trans’ or any of it to speak for me. Now I am beginning to realize the importance of it because there is really hardly any visibility for black trans women, especially in fashion. Hell, there are hardly any black women in fashion. Period." But despite her success, Ms. Redmond said she still can feel like an outsider.

Miss Dijon performed today at the Louis Vuitton Men's F/W 2013 Presentation in Osaka, Japan. She arrived in Japan last night and almost lost her music. "[Left] my laptop on the plane with 4 hard drives full of music because i was over exhausted from traveling," Miss Dijon writes on Facebook. "Just got it back and I'm back in business."

Brava! I first encountered Miss Honey' and her music in the mid 90s via the old Gramaphone Records in Chicago. Miss Honey and I reunited in the early 00s in New York City. I've heard her play everywhere from G in Chelsea to clubs in Montreal and Paris. Love, love, love her music and energy.

LISTEN to Miss Honey Dijon on Soundcloud

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"Just because we have gay TV shows and all that, these things are just a fantasy. It's like two different realities. It's like The Matrix, the virtual reality and what's happening in the real world. And what's happening on the street is a reflection of what our larger government and religious institutions are doing."

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