Vermilion, Ohio — The Northeast Ohio native has garnered international attention for his cutting-edge fashion design and innovative styling skills.
Curtis Cassell received high marks in Amazon Prime Video’s reality competition “Making the Cut” and gave his hometown of Vermilion big kudos.
“My favorite, hey, keep you up. I love this. This is an inspiration, right?” Cassel said.
Vermilion High School alumni’s designs have been widely acclaimed.
As contestants in Amazon Prime Video’s “Making the Cut” Season 3, the Vermilion High School graduates’ creativity and talent stand out among a crowd of 10 designers from around the world.
They’re all vying for a cool million dollar prize and Amazon Fashion mentorship.
Each episode they design looks for challenges.
The looks are judged by a star-studded panel, including Heidi Klum, Nicole Richie and Jeremy Scott.
After each fashion show, the winner’s accessible look with additional colors and companion pieces will be available in our Amazon store.
“Like what Tim and Heidi wanted to do with this new show was to create a direct connection between the viewer and the consumer and the designer,” Cassel said.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity doesn’t come overnight.
Cassel applied to the show on a whim, thanks to the encouragement of his friends.
Over the years, he’s been busy working as a waiter and has noticed a glaring gap when it comes to wedding attire.
He wanted to make a difference and have his voice heard in the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I was involved in a lot of weddings, and then I realized, wow, the wedding system really is an either/or – literally black suits and white dresses. neither.”
In that moment, the Illinois College of the Arts Chicago Interior Architecture alumni clothing line Quiera was born.
Kassel describes it as a colorful grayscale garment in the middle.
The motto is to be fit, not to define your gender.
He says it’s a non-binary apparel brand for anyone looking to find and feel who they really are.
“It was really important to me to create a variety of clothes that I could put in my closet and wear however I wanted, instead of making clothes that were gendered.”
Cassel says the show is starting to change his life, but his heart and his family, including his mother, father, brother Chris, and both grandparents, are in Vermilion, Ohio, where it all began. There are more.
“It was really exciting. To represent my state and my hometown. Look, little Vermilion, look, Harbortown on the Lake.”
His family keeps him humble, but he says he’ll never forget the moment supermodel and show host Heidi Klum paid him a sizeable tribute.
“What you don’t see in the first episode is Heidi Klum criticizing me and she said, oh, by the way, you’re so attractive. And yeah, Caliente. And I’m melting.” I like.”
Making the Cut is currently streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.
To check out Kassel’s designs, click here: QUEERA (queerawang.com)
