Top Honours
Adrienne Wu ’08
Of Gender and Fashion
Adrienne came out as queer in Grade 9—something that left her at odds with many of her high school peers, who she says sometimes treated her with “blunt” racism and homophobia. In her mid-twenties, she decided to take a step back from her fashion career to focus on better understanding the LGBTQ+ community, becoming a prominent YouTuber and Huffington Post writer focused on issues of sexuality and gender. She looks back to her early career, and her fascination with designs that played with gender norms, as a hint to her future as a trans woman. “I think my fashion career paralleled my struggles with gender and gender dysphoria,” she says. “It was an outlet I could justify.” These days, Adrienne is spending a lot of time thinking and writing. She’s been approached by a prominent agent to write a book on the non-binary experience, so is working out just what it will look like. “I lost a lot of contracts after I transitioned,” she says. “At the time, everyone thought I lost my mind, that being trans equates to being mentally ill.” She’s also still heavily involved in the trans community in Toronto, where she currently lives. She says she has learned that as part of a group that faces an inordinate amount of discrimination, one must build “tools to survive.” It’s still a struggle at times, she admits. But Adrienne has already proven she has the will and the wisdom to be the person she wants to be.
Adrienne Wu ’08 knows all about glamour—and struggle NOT LONG AFTER LEAVING HSC, Adrienne Wu ’08 was suddenly everywhere—if you
were following the fashion world, that is. She had intended to pursue a degree in sex therapy, but soon left university to focus on fashion design—a risky proposition that turned the Burlington-raised creative into a starlet, nearly overnight. “I was discovered online after making 50 dresses in my parents’ basement,” Adrienne says. “I was offered an opportunity to be a fashion correspondent at MuchMusic, and that snowballed into a lot of opportunities.” Adrienne—who is trans and began her transition in her early twenties—hit milestones shortly after she left HSC that many designers dream of for their entire careers. She had runway shows at Toronto Fashion Week and the National Gallery of Canada, and created a collection in collaboration with author Margaret Atwood for the glitzy Book Lover’s Ball in 2012. While her friends were toiling away at their undergraduate degrees, Wu was working hard making a name for herself, and doing the necessary hobnobbing that came with that. She says it was both isolating and exhilarating. “I felt like in my early twenties, I wasn’t allowed to have fun,” she says. “All I did was work. But it was quite glamorous.”
The Alumni Hall of Excellence
An Update on Inclusion at HSC In 2013, HSC students launched Inclusivity+, our first gender and sexuality alliance. Since its inception, the group has worked to raise awareness of our LGBTQ+ community through a variety of whole-school events. Alongside student-led initiatives, the College recognizes the rights of students through updated policies that honour and respect sexual orientation and gender identity. Moving forward, we will continue to provide education and support to faculty, staff and students to eliminate homophobia, transphobia and biphobia at HSC. SPRING 2022
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