I find my voice when I’m out of breath. Clarity like a lemon drop Or cyclone’s centrifuge I chase quiet extremity An adrenal freefall junkie I catapult I am canon-shot clown Learning heaven’s mudslide Endocrine flex function Suckling the catabolic goddess with Scapulae points wide flung I crack my keratin armor Therapized upon a horizon’s lost edge.

BIO

Lou Croff Blake is a trans writer, artist, and performer based in Berlin, Germany. Their work integrates queer theory with ecology and community-building, driven by radical curiosity in regenerative ways of working. In their multidisciplinary body of work, they dissolve the barriers between creative play and critical analysis. Transmedial projects interweave artistic research, upcycling and costuming, storytelling, and somatic workshops, generating collectivist narratives on ‘queering’ as a process that extends far beyond gender. As an advocate for intersectional environmentalism, they focus on connecting dots between ecosystemic thought, social justice and decolonialism, gender diversity, and accessibility.
With collaborator Madelyn Byrd, they embark on projects that push the boundaries around what it means to be a citizen of Earth, merging artistic embodied experiments with science and fantasy. In 2025, duo’s speculative worlding manifests in projects at AADK’s Cruce program (funded by The Goethe Institute’s Culture Moves Europe grant) and School of Commons’ peer learning program (located at Zürich University of the Arts)
Reaching towards allies, they speak and teach on topics of regenerative sustainability and gender inclusivity in fashion and beyond.
Photo by Teres Bartunkova

what i do:

transdisciplinary & overlapping activities

⚀ writing: poetry, fictocrit, experimental

⚁ critical fashion practice

⚂ spoken word performance

⚃ workshops & moderation

⚄ curriculum development

⚅ dj bricks: embodiment on the dance floor

✄⚛︎✍︎

CV:

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Bum Archive: 2005-Present, Essay in Reading My Panties 02: Queer Pillow Talk, Arnhem, NL, ‘25 (upcoming)

Up and Over, Short story in Litmosphere 2025, Charlotte, USA ‘25

A realist’s gamble with ambivalence (2025 Bingo), Poem in citizen trans* {project}, new words {press}, USA, ‘25

Body Poems, Poetry collection (self-published), Printed in Berlin, Germany, ‘24

A Queer Fashion Autoethnography, Essay in APRIA: Practicing Solidarity Editorial, online via Arnhem, Netherlands, ‘24

Transcorporeal Portal, Album text for Transcorporeal Portal by Slowfoam, Somewhere Press, printed in Glasgow, Scotland, ‘24

Flagging Chimera / Excavating Queer Folklores, Essay & interview in Just Femme & Dandy 06: The Timetravel Issue, online via USA, ‘24

Trans Unraveling Ritual, Essay in SOFTEIS3: Loss, Printed in Berlin, Germany, ‘23

Manifesto for the Aspiring Lebenskunstler, Zine printed with We Make It risograph studio, Berlin, Germany, ‘21

SELECTED PROJECTS & ENGAGEMENTS

Playing-with: Research in Queer Ecologies, Artistic research residency, film, and installation with Madelyn Byrd, AADK Cruce Program (Funded by The Goethe Institute), Blanca, ES, ‘25

A Tuned Body, Research & Performance with Madelyn Byrd, Grabowsee - Artist in Residence, Oranianburg, DE, ‘24

Selected Works for Große Wasserspeichern, Spoken word performance at Echoes of Promised Safety (Fashion Installation by Elodie Carstensen), Berlin, DE, ‘24

Songs for The Crossing: 90mil Radio, Monthly Radio Show with musical guests, 90mil Radio, Berlin, DE ,‘24-‘25

Speculative Upcycling, Workshop & Lecture, UDK. Berlin, DE, ‘24

Naturopathic Somaesthetics - Workshop with Madelyn Byrd, ROTA Festival, Blanca, ES, ‘23

Songs for The Crossing, Performance series with Pablo Diserens, Slowfoam and other collaborators, at 90mil, KWIA, and The Lodge, Berlin, Germany, and Naches, USA, ‘23-‘25

Lou Croff Blake Talks Pronouns, Fashion For Every Body and the Language of Belonging Beyond the Gender Binary, Podcast episode, WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press, ‘24

Fluidity & Dynamism: Queer is a Catalyst (And So Can You!), Keynote Lecture & Panel “Reality Bites: Perspectives on Diversity”, Macromedia University, Online & Berlin, DE, ‘23

Queer Needlework Circle & The Incidental Quilt, Workshop & Community Project with Theodoor Adriaans. De-Fashioning Education Conference, Berlin, DE, ‘23

A Queer Fashion Rolodex, Presentation at The State of Fashion bienale: ‘Ways of Caring’, Arnhem, NL, ‘22

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

School of Commons: 2025 Peer Learning Program, Digital residency, festival, and publication, at Zürich University of the Arts, CH, ‘25

Culture Moves Europe Grant, for residency at AADK, awarded by The Goethe Institute, Blanca, Spain, ‘25

Countdown Grabowsee, Artist in Residence, Oranienburg, Germany, ‘24

ROTA Festival, Festival and Residency at AADK, Blanca, Spain, ‘23

Hisako Nakaya Apparel Design Endowed Scholarship, awarded by Seattle Central College, Seattle, USA, ‘19

International News-Mike Alesko Apparel Design Endowed Scholarship, awarded by Seattle Central College, Seattle, USA, ‘18

Grant for Artist Projects: “Deck Out”, awarded by Artist Trust, Seattle, USA, ‘17

Graduate Artist Studio Residency, HALLE 14 at Baumwolle Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany, awarded by the University of Puget Sound, ‘13

COLLABORATION & COMMUNITY

Gren Collective, Founding member, ‘23-Present

SQUID INC, DJ collaboration with Madelyn Byrd, ‘20-Present

Queer Handmade Market, Co-organizer, panel moderation. Berlin, Germany, ‘23

Queer Needlework Circle. Co-facilitator, Practitioner. Berlin, Germany, ‘23

The Hologram, Facilitator, Practitioner, Online & Berlin, Germany, 2021-present

MOLD Collective. Co-founder, Berlin, Germany, ‘20-‘23

TUF Collective, Founding member, workshop facilitator, Seattle, USA, ‘15- ‘20

Lion’s Main Art Collective. Founding member, Seattle, USA, 2013-2017

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

DEIB in the Fashion Context, Workshop trainer at studio MM04, ‘25 (upcoming)

Sustainability Lab I & II, Teaching position for B.A. course at Akademie Mode & Design, Berlin, Germany, ‘23-present

Sustainability Lab I & II, Curriculum development of B.A. course at Akademie Mode & Design, Berlin, Germany, ‘23-present

Research & project development: regenerative fashion, Beneficial Design Institute, Berlin, Germany, ‘22-present

Fashion for Cultural Sustainability, Trainer at Design Academy by VORN x Zalando, ‘24

Research & communications: fashion & sustainability, studio MM04, Berlin, Germany, ‘22-24

Project management, program development, moderation, 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit, organized by studio MM04, ‘22-24

Apparel Design Tutor, Tutor at Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA USA, ‘19-20

Studio Assistant & Communications, MOO YOUNG, Seattle, WA USA, ‘18-20

Studio Internship, Cilium, Brooklyn, NY USA, ‘19

Design Center Associate, Framing & fine art printing specialist at Dick Blick Art Materials, Seattle, WA USA, ‘13-17

EDUCATION

Certification: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Trainer, BAMIK, Berlin, Germany ‘24

M.A. Sustainability in Creative Industries, Akademie Mode & Design, Berlin, Germany ‘22

A.A.S. School of Apparel Design & Development, Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA USA, ‘20

B. A. Studio Art: Painting, Minor in French Language, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA USA, ‘13, Suma Cum Laude

BIO