Feb. 25, 2026, 6:08 a.m. ET
- Detroit’s “Rainbow Resilience: An Ageless Fashion Affair” returns for its third year at the Detroit Yacht Club.
- The event centers LGBTQ+ older adults, who model looks they co-create with local fashion partners.
- The fashion show celebrates aging, resilience, and self-expression within the LGBTQ+ community.
- Festivities include live entertainment, food, and opportunities for intergenerational connection.
Detroit’s most colorful celebration of self-expression is strutting back into the spotlight. Rainbow Resilience: An Ageless Fashion Affair is returning for its third year, promising an afternoon packed with community, creativity and a whole lot of unapologetic “Aging Out Loud.”
The event, scheduled for Sunday, March 1, at the Detroit Yacht Club, centers LGBTQ+ older adults – those who’ve spent decades carving out space, demanding visibility and defining their own style long before the runway lights turn on. This year, the fashion show once again places them front and center, not just as models, but as storytellers.
Under the creative direction of Jess Minnick of Detroit’s own Not Sorry Goods, each participant collaborates with a local fashion partner to bring their look to life. The process is personal: models and designers work hand-in-hand to build outfits that capture memories, identity and the confidence that comes with a life fully lived. The results tend to be as bold and varied as the people wearing them.
But the magic starts long before anyone hits the runway. The event opens with live entertainment, food and drinks and a social atmosphere that turns the room into a buzzing hub of connection. Younger attendees mingle with elders who paved the way and creative partnerships forged for the show spill into new friendships.
When the lights dim and the music swells, the highlight of the day unfolds. LGBTQ+ older adults glide and dance down the runway, each look a visual biography. The show celebrates fashion, yes – but even more, it celebrates presence, resilience and the stories these models carry.
For organizers, Rainbow Resilience is about rewriting expectations around aging while honoring the generations who helped shape queer culture today. The event champions aging as a vibrant, expressive process – one that is best lived authentically and in community.
Rainbow Resilience: An Ageless Fashion Affair
When: Sunday, March 1
Where: Detroit Yacht Club, Riverbank Dr., Detroit
Tickets: start at $25, migenconnect.networkforgood.com