Traditionally clothes have been used as a way to identify gender. From the moment we are in our mother’s womb, she is given either pink or blue gifts depending on what she is expecting, through to school uniforms providing summer dresses for girls and blazers and shirts for boys, even in many jobs the work uniform that you are provided with categorises men into wearing a shirt and tie while other employers state that all women must wear high heels as a requirement for the role.
But fashion is fighting back. With the likes of Kanye West making skirts an essential part of his wardrobe and Jaden Smith modelling for Louis Vuitton in a dress, it seems the lines of these neat little boxes set out for us by previous generations are becoming increasingly blurred. It’s not just the clothes either; last year the world welcomed the idea of the first gender-flued model to walk on an Indian runway – Petr Nitka participated in the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017, bringing with them a huge sense of empowerment and social progression to the LGBTQ community.
So, what has sparked this sea change that is making tidal waves across the apparel industry? Fashion is never just created, it is born from social, economic, environmental and political movements. Much like the punk subculture brought to us through the frustrations many were feeling about the middleclass hypocrisy and neglect of working people struggling to survive, this gender-neutral trend can be tracked back to changes in gender roles and awareness spread by feminist and queer movements – ultimately building a society that is identity flued. Men who traditionally took on the role of the sole bread-winners of the family are now becoming stay at home dads, while we are seeing more women going into highly paid, powerful jobs.
It is important not only to recognise the social changes that have brought about this transformation but also the way in which we communicate. Social media has allowed us to experiment with our clothing and find more diverse ways to style ourselves. The street style culture, catapulted onto the screens of our smartphones and tablets through the power of social media, has not only empowered consumers to become much more accepting of different styles of clothing but has in fact encouraged them to find their own unique identity through what they wear.
Movements towards todays changes date back to the early 1900’s, where arguably the most influential fashion designer of all time, Coco Chanel, reshaped the way that women wore clothes. It was an era of change due to post-war circumstances, where fabrics were difficult to source and the roles of men and women had been drastically shifted. The high-end designer capitalised on this by introducing trousers into women’s fashion which were previously only worn for work. She was also the first designer to inaugurate jersey, a fabric that had largely been used just for men’s underwear – into her collections. This comfortable fabric was a juxtaposition to the uncomfortable corset style clothing that women had previously worn. But of course the most ground-breaking piece to Coco Chanel’s platter of revolutionary styles was the iconic women’s suit. The piece encompassed a collarless boxy wool jacket with braid trim, fitted sleeves and embellished buttons with a complementary slim line skirt. This outfit was ideal for the post-war women of her generation who were embarking on career path's in the male-dominated workplace.
Although it has been more acceptable for women to ignore the boundaries set out by gender in fashion, school uniform is an area in which these rules have remained stringent up until recent years. We are now seeing gendered uniform rules being scrapped by an increasing number of institutions. Schools are going from a ‘boys uniform’ and a ‘girls uniform’ to a ‘skirt uniform’ and a ‘trouser uniform’, allowing students to make their own decisions when it comes to how they identify themselves. This stems from a recognition of students rights who have, in the past, felt that they do not conform to the binary genders.
Recent years have seen big brands pushing the identity boundaries with Urban Decay appointing gender fluid model, Ruby Rose as their ambassador and retail giant, Zara, releasing an ‘ungendered’ line and of course John Lewis sparking controversy by introducing it's ‘gender natural’ children’s line. Even before that, Selfridges launched its Agender space – an area allowing consumers to purchase whatever fashion and beauty products they desired with no ridged guidelines to adhere to. It seems that for a while now, the line between male and female codes has clearly become increasingly extraneous within the industry.
Looking forward we can see that this is not just a gender fluid trend but instead an androgyny revolution. A recent study conducted by trend-forecasting agency J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group, showed that only 44% of Generation Z - the demographic unit born after the millennials - and 54% of millennials were reported shopping for clothing designed specifically for their own gender, pointing to a vast and growing selection of consumers that refuse to play by traditional rules of gender profiling. Androgyny in the fashion industry is a culture change that is here to stay and although some may be hesitant to see it as anything more than a marketing ploy, the social movement that it represents is surely something to be celebrated. As long as we continue to strive for equality outside of the dressing room, there is nothing wrong with continuing to fight the androgyny revolution in one of the most influential industries in the world.
