Designer Dyke: Dr. Creatur3

This month we are excited to launch our new series - Designer Dyke. Within this series, we highlight the work of and get to know rising dyke designers. Interviewed by Jo Chao, to start things off we met up with the legendary milliner and artist behind Dr. Creatur3 - Fleur Bloemsma. See a selection of Dr.Creatur3 hats featured in this editorial shot by the incredible Elif Gonen and featuring the wonderful Do Do Potato.

Interview: Jo Chao @yosighost

When Fleur Bloemsma ushers me into their studio on a balmy day in mid-July, I feel like I’ve been catapulted into east London’s very own wonderland. It’s a cascade of creativity - strewn around are hats of every variety, paintings splattered with loud colours, and plastic flowers, dangling and swirling like unshrinking violets.

I shouldn’t be surprised. As the founder and driving force behind eccentric hat brand, Dr. Creatur3, Fleur is a beacon of whimsy. With a childlike innocence and apparent sincerity, it’s difficult not to intuitively warm to their character and the guttural laugh that punctuates each interaction. It’s with this idiosyncratic demeanour, and half-winkingly, that Fleur divulges the story that supercharged their mutant creations; from the brand’s escapist origins and ecstatically queer context, to the conception of their upcoming collection and oscillating creative process.

“I want to impart an element of joy within that queerness - I don't want it to be a big middle finger up to the world, because that's not what it's about.”

Jo Chao: What inspired you to start making hats?

Fleur Bloemsma: I was in my last year of uni; I was running a little bit short on money, and was in a weird phase of not really knowing who I was. It was before I came out as trans, and I was just trying to find myself. So, I started making these creature hats that covered my face, so I didn't have to face people with the body that I didn't feel confident in at the time. Then people were like, "Can I buy one of those?" and it just grew from there, and turned into whatever it is today - just a shop of madness, really.

JC: How did you devise the brand name Dr. Creatur3?

FB: My brand started out as Creature Feature, because that was what my film collaborators and I called ourselves. I initially made the brand so that we could make money for our projects, but then it turned into a business instead of a thing to make money for a project. So, it was like, "Oh, it should get it's own name." I'm dedicated to the word "creature" because it encapsulates me as a person, I've even got it tattooed on my lip. "Doctor" is because I feel like people can come to me for an appointment, to transform into who they want to be with a costume or a hat, or whatever it is. They're like, "This is what I want," and I'm like, "I can make that happen." Just a doctor's appointment with Dr. Creatur3 and you've got it sorted.

JC: A lot of your designs have horns - where did that idea originate from?

FB: When I was creating my headpieces in the beginning, it was a lot more horn orientated and focused. I was very much in the era of creatures and devils, and demons and angels, with my collaborative partner at the time. It kind of came from there - there was an escapism in not having to be within my humanoid body. Being able to develop my own creature and morph into this different thing, because I couldn't relate to the human body that I was existing in at the time.

“It's that collaboration of connecting, and then making a baby together - I think that's my favourite part of doing this. I love making queer little babies.”

JC: You've described your pieces as "Not really fashion, not really a costume." What does that mean to you?

FB: I really stick by the statement that it's not fashion, and it's not quite costume. I think fashion is wonderful because it can be a protest, and it can be confrontational, and you can say something about who you are; but the magic of costume is that you can get completely lost within who you are. So, it's somewhere between those two realms, where it allows you to be something else for a day, but also protest a little bit.

JC: You use a wide range of fabrics in your designs; a lot of them are really textural and often the way you use them is quite unconventional. Is anything off limits to you?

FB: Latex is a bitch, it really is. I'll do it, but it's a bitch. I'll use any fabric, I want to try everything once. But I try to stay away from latex and instead use PVC or something that's a similar vibe. Honestly, I want to be tested, I want to be pushed. I want someone to come up to me and be like, "Hey, do this and use this fabric." I'm like fuck yeah, I'll give it a go. With enough persistence and queer attitude, you can make just about anything.

JC: What role does sustainability play in your brand? Is it something you think about?

FB: The brand started off incredibly sustainable. Everything was made from my secondhand clothes, partially because that's all I had around me at the time. It was a time where you couldn't really go out to shops and buy things mid-COVID, so I'd just scavenge and go skip diving to get materials. Nowadays I buy a lot of my fabrics from charity shops, so it's still bits that you won't always find in a fabric shop. I also like buying from local fabric shops, because I try to stay away from big corporations and online stuff. I'm near Walthamstow High Street, which has about 20 different fabric shops, mostly family run. They have rolls and rolls and rolls, and it's not too expensive.

JC: What's your creative process like?

FB: I love pairing colours together, and then just playing with it and testing things out. I realised that the way that you make the best bits is experimentation and failure - just going with it and not limiting yourself so much. I think often, we're like, "I'm making this thing and it's got to be perfect, and this is how long it's gonna be, and there won't be any other middle stages." But when you fuck up, it brings out the best bits, and you're like, "Oh shit, that's great. That is something I would never have thought about doing."

JC: Do you have an all-time favourite piece you've made?

FB: I think my favourite piece of all time might be Kevin. Kevin is... my true love. He's a seven-foot headpiece with arms that go all the way down to the floor - you wouldn't be able to wear it in this room. And he's a real ladies' man; I went to Dalston Superstore after a photoshoot and he had his arms wrapped around all the ladies. Something that was just super interactive, super cute. And he has no eyes, but he has really good charisma.

“There was an escapism in developing my own creature and morphing into this different thing, because I couldn't relate to the human body that I was existing in at the time.”

JC: You've previously stated that the inspiration behind the brand was to "create a queer utopia". What is a queer utopia to you?

FB: A queer utopia is having absolute, complete autonomy and liberation. Like actual realisation that in the body you are in right now, you can do whatever the fuck you want. You can wear what you want. You can put flowers on your head, you can wear a big fluffy bunny outfit, you have full autonomy over your own queer identity and expression. That is queer utopia: just absolute freedom to be whoever you want to be.

JC: A lot of your pieces are really bold and large-scale. Does that say something about queer visibility, in taking up physical space when people wear them?

FB: I enjoy making things extremely big and in-your-face, so you can't not see them. But I also want it to impart an element of joy within that queerness - I don't want it to be a big middle finger up to the world, because that's not what it's about. It's about capturing somebody's attention, and them being like, "Oh, wow, that's put a smile on my face." Just spreading the joy. I think making things that are big and joyful and playful, it's just so absurd. Like, how could you not smile at a giant carrot around you? Or a giant apple on your head? I think it's right to say that [it's meaningful that] they take up space. I really, really like that. It's like you can't ignore it, and you don't need to hide it.

JC: Last year you hosted The Mad Hatter Party in order to raise funds for your top surgery. What was the experience of marrying your queer brand with an actionable queer cause like?

FB: I was really nervous to do my Mad Hatter Party, because it's a big step to connect yourself - a person with your own wants and desires - with a brand that's a different version of you. But it was also super exhilarating. It felt like a massive hug to feel the support of people that had followed me over the past two years. Being like, "Wow, this queer world that we're living in has people backing and helping each other, wanting to see other people succeed and grow, and become the best versions of themselves." It was actually one of the best experiences I've had; being able to share that love from everyone around me. And people that I didn't know just turned up and were supportive. I never thought something like that would happen to me. But it did, and I'm so grateful for that.

JC: I guess it's also what you were saying earlier about how you originally started making the hats to cover your face. It sounds like you were breaking through that, and making yourself very visible as the person who was behind it.

FB: Yeah, that's so true. I was finally exposing myself to the people that follow the brand, showing that this was me. It felt like a new era for Dr. Creatur3, for sure.

JC: Have you had any notable collaborations with other queer creatives while you've been developing your brand?

FB: Yeah, I've done a few collaborations. I did one with Storm St. Claire at the beginning of the brand where we made tartan hellbunnies, it was really cute. I've made a lot of pieces for a lot of people, and that's always a collaborative process. They'll come to me with a vision or an idea, or a fabric or a colour. And then I'll do my sketches, and come back to them. But it's that collaboration of connecting, and then making a baby together - I think that's my favourite part of doing this. I love making queer little babies.

“Kevin is... my true love. He's a seven-foot headpiece. He’s a real ladies' man. And he has no eyes, but he has really good charisma.”

JC: What concepts are brewing for your next collection?

FB: My next collection is going to be a very big, fruity, veggie, fluffy mania. You want to eat it, you can't eat it. You want to be inside of it. You want to munch it up, you gotta crunch. Then, for the collection after, I want to explore the idea of being completely torn to shreds; I want to feel like I've been walking through caves, and rivers, and scissors. So, very contradictory things, but I think that's the most exciting thing about it all. If you look at the history of the things that I've made, there's a correlating feeling of 'creature', but it's never the same. You never know what I'm gonna do. Even I don't know what I'm gonna do.

JC: Aside from hats, you've also branched out to include some bags and scarves in your product range. Are there any other products you're interested in introducing?

FB: I'm currently writing up a couple of ideas for some t-shirts, and I just want them to be ridiculous, confrontational, in-your-face, and silly. I've also been thinking about some skirts, and some new styles of hat as well.

JC: Your hats have been worn by celebrities as high profile as FKA Twigs. Who would your dream customer be?

FB: I would love Doja Cat to wear one of my hats. Yves Tumor, also Rico Nasty. Just baddies with a sick style.

JC: What do you envision for Dr. Creatur3 in two years’ time?

FB: I envision Dr. Creatur3 to be a bit more than a brand and I think it's already starting to be that. I'm planning to do some more club nights, and I want a percentage of the proceeds that I make to go to some trans surgeries; I already co-run a charity called transfund4london, so that's really important to me. People have managed to help me with my surgery, so I want to put that favour back into the world. I want to grow the brand into a hub for the community, and I would love to get it in a few more shops.

JC: Anything else you'd like to add?

FB: Keep an eye out on my shop, I'm going to be doing a big drop beginning to mid-September for my Autumn collection. And make sure you follow my Instagram @dr.creatur3 - I post silly videos.