October 23, 2026 | Ricardo W. Harris

Kelvin Haydon: serving four decades of fashion leadership

Award-winning fashion designer Kelvin Haydon inspires creativity, authenticity, LGBTQ advocacy, mentorship, and Black community engagement.

Kelvin Haydon of Milwaukee

Kelvin Haydon is an award-winning fashion designer, creative visionary, LGBTQ advocate, mentor, and community leader whose remarkable career spans more than four decades. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kelvin has dedicated his life to celebrating individuality, inspiring confidence, encouraging creative expression, and empowering others to embrace their authentic selves. Through his passion for fashion, commitment to self-expression, and unwavering support of others, he continues to inspire individuality, empower emerging talent, and make a lasting impact on his community and beyond.

For Kelvin, fashion has always been more than clothing. It is an art form, a statement of identity, and a powerful means of self-expression. His creative philosophy embraces originality over conformity, confidence over convention, and authenticity over expectation. Through his designs and personal journey, he has demonstrated that true style begins with the courage to be oneself.

As the founder of the Kelvin Haydon Fashion Label, Kelvin has built a distinctive reputation for creating one-of-a-kind and limited-edition garments for women and men. Inspired by architecture, shape, color, movement, and the human form, his designs combine artistic vision with technical craftsmanship. Each creation reflects his belief that fashion should celebrate real people, honor individuality, and make those who wear his designs feel extraordinary.

His creative excellence earned national recognition in 2012 when Little Rock Fashion Week named the Kelvin Haydon Fashion Label its Clothing Line of the Year. This achievement highlighted his originality, craftsmanship, and commitment to independent fashion design, extending his influence beyond Milwaukee.

Equally significant is Kelvin’s longstanding commitment to LGBTQ visibility, advocacy, and leadership. Beginning his creative journey during a time when openly expressing one’s identity often required extraordinary courage, Kelvin chose to live authentically and encourage others to do the same. Throughout decades of social and cultural change, he has remained a source of strength, inspiration, and encouragement for individuals navigating their identities and discovering their voices.

His influence extends beyond the runway and design studio. Kelvin has generously shared his talents, knowledge, and time with aspiring designers, entertainers, artists, models, family, friends, and members of his community. Through charitable fashion shows, community events, personal mentorship, and countless acts of service, he has consistently demonstrated that creativity carries its greatest value when it uplifts others.

As an ambassador for All Things Fashion, Kelvin has helped guide and inspire emerging designers, emphasizing the importance of education, discipline, perseverance, technical knowledge, and self-confidence. His approach to mentorship is rooted in helping others discover their own creative identities rather than simply following in his footsteps.

A lifelong learner, Kelvin holds an associate degree in fashion retail marketing and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His continued dedication to education reflects his belief that personal growth and artistic development have no age limit. Even after more than 40 years of experience, he remains committed to learning, evolving, and inspiring future generations.

Kelvin’s legacy is defined not only by his artistic accomplishments but also by his compassion, resilience, courage, and unwavering commitment to service. He has used his platform to champion individuality, promote inclusion, create opportunities, and remind others that their identities and creative voices deserve to be celebrated.

Through more than four decades of fashion, advocacy, mentorship, and community engagement, Kelvin Haydon has established himself as more than a designer. He is a trailblazer, a role model, a creative force, and an advocate for the freedom to live and express oneself authentically.

His lasting impact can be seen in the people he has inspired, the emerging talents he has encouraged, the communities he has supported, and the doors he has helped open for others.

Kelvin Haydon’s story is a testament to the transformative power of creativity, courage, authenticity, and service and a reminder that the greatest legacy is not simply what we create, but the lives we touch along the way.

Julie Tarney was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has had a successful career, helping build the largest public relations firm in her hometown and later launching a personal leadership development consultancy. Her proudest accomplishment, however, is her child Harry, whom she and Harry’s dad knew from infancy had “a mind of his own.”

“Back in 1992, when Harry was two years old and told me, ‘Inside my head, I’m a girl,’ I thought he was confused,” admits Julie.

“Gender to me just always meant one of two boxes I checked on my driver’s license application. I didn’t realize there are people who say, ‘I don’t fit into either the boy box or the girl box.’ I was the one who was confused, not Harry.”

In My Son Wears Heels, Julie shares personal experiences in which Harry’s self-expression challenged the “either/or” narrative around gender identity. Julie recalls the Halloween when Harry, then four years old, wanted to wear the pink Power Ranger costume and expresses regret over convincing him to wear the blue Power Ranger costume instead. Years later, Harry explained that he gravitated toward the pink Power Ranger because of her sassy attitude and outfit, which happened to feature a skirt instead of pants.

“To Harry, pink was a happy color, and Harry was a happy kid,” explains Julie. “To him, there was no such thing as ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ colors, clothes or toys.”

Four-year-old Harry was simply drawn to what he liked, and he continued to express himself through fashion throughout his childhood and into adulthood.

As Harry grew up, it became increasingly clear that he wasn’t going to let the opinions of others influence how he expressed himself, and Julie’s understanding of gender identity grew along with him. She hated seeing how wounded Harry was as a young child when he wasn’t allowed to wear dress-up clothes outside of the house. Although her motherly instinct to shield Harry from negativity was always in the back of her mind, Julie was determined to protect his self-esteem. She let him push the limits of societal expectations if she thought he would be safe.

Despite his confidence, Harry wasn’t immune to bullying, which started in fifth grade. Rather than allowing hurtful comments from peers to dim his sparkle, Harry responded by thriving—excelling academically and channeling his dramatic, performance-loving nature into activities that made him popular in high school.

Two years in a row, Harry hosted a “Miss Shorewood” drag pageant as a fundraiser for student council. As a sophomore, he donned heels to introduce the “Trashy Fashion” clothing line he created for the school’s Talent Showcase to cheers and whoops from fellow students. His senior year, Harry accepted his diploma in red patent leather stilettos to equally enthusiastic cheers.

Educating Allies

Today, Julie is an independent speaker and educator, helping businesses learn how to create trans-inclusive, welcoming, and supportive workplaces. Whether she’s speaking to a group of parents or in a conference setting, Julie says she often starts by explaining the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation, which many people outside of the LGBTQ community don’t understand.

“I find in talking with people that many are afraid of saying the wrong thing, but no one expects you to know everything,” explains Julie. “Taking the time to educate yourself is important, and the only expectation the LGBTQ community has of you is to treat them with respect.”

Long before Julie was a mother, she was an ally. Horrified by the government’s handling of the AIDS epidemic, Julie participated in the first AIDS WaIk in Milwaukee. Julie is a former Huffington Post “Queer Voices” blogger, former board member for PFLAG New York and It Gets Better and current volunteer with the PFLAG Safe Schools Program, offering relentless support for parents and families of gender non-conforming, non-binary, trans and queer children.

Recognition of Julie’s advocacy work includes a Milwaukee Pride BeOUT Award for LGBTQ Visibility in 2016, being named a “Favorite Queer Hero of 2016” by HuffPost, and one of BlogHer's “Voices of the Year” in 2015. My Son Wears Heels was included in the inaugural collection of the Big 10 Academic Alliance Open Books Project, which focused on gender and sexuality. Thanks to this project, Julie’s book can be downloaded and read free of charge (you can access it here).

Like many parents, Julie often wondered if she was doing things “the right way.” She describes Harry as “a great kid” who continues to thrive—these days in New York City—as an artist, creative director, stylist, author, and drag performer. Julie also relocated years ago and now lives in Brooklyn.

She’s Harry’s (stage name Amber Alert) biggest fan, applauding the loudest at performances—whenever she can stay up that late.

Learn more about Harry James Hanson at our website.