Just People, Just Clothes

By: Jada Milazzo

November 4, 2022

“Genderless” has become the new favorite word among the fashion industry, designers, and brands as they aim to be more inclusive among transgender and non-binary communities. We have seen the recent runway shows, such as Zegna and Christian Dior, where non-binary folks are presented in the outfits as a way of exemplifying that these are just clothes and are not limited or exclusive to one gender or type of person. Similarly, shoppers are demanding gender-neutral or gender-less clothing, as an act of protest and stripping fashion/clothing from gender entirely. Over the last decades, queer liberation and feminist movements have conquered milestones and educated people on the idea that there is a spectrum of gender, and not just two rigid genders. Now, the current generation and leaders of society have placed a heavy importance on fluidity among all aspects and industries and the world.

Whether you visit a physical store or an online store front, you will most likely find two categories: women or men. Over the years this has changed, creating categories such as gender-neutral, gender-free, or unisex. All of these terms are rooted in the queer liberation movements, that intended to deconstruct gender norms, binaries, and traditions. Prior to colonization, many Indigenous cultures valued queer, and non-conforming people as integral members of society. Tribes, such as the Lakota, Mohave, Crow, and Cheyenne, considered “Two-Spirit” people as spiritual and cultural leaders. As colonization began, the U.S. enforced rigid gender binaries, often enforcing violent and forceful cultural assimilation that caused us to lose these views on non-conformity. Westward expansion and the turn of the 20th century, brought this tactic back as the U.S. imperialist missionaries tried erasing “Hawai’i’s Mahu and the Phillipines’ Bakla people through banning cultural rituals and enforcing strict cis-hetero standards”. Similarly, as industrialization took off in America, standards became even more controlled in favor of white men’s economic interests; which led to the continued degradation of opportunities from Indigenous, Black, and working class women. The definition of gender specifically evolved from the separation of productive and domestic spheres of influence. Men were strictly working individuals set to provide for their wives and families, while women’s “femininity” was emphasized through their roles as mothers, nurtures, and housekeepers. By the 1900s, the law tied gender to consumerism; babies went from wearing the same home-made dresses, regardless of gender, to either wearing pink or blue, solely based on their gender. Today, the world is slowly but surely beginning to honor gender diversity and non-conformity.Currently, social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become the safe space for people to be their authentic selves and not hold back on sharing their identity, interests, and killer fashion sense. Additionally, these platforms have been jumping points for companies and smaller brands alike to boost their brand awareness and spread their message to the world. Brick and mortar stores are upgrading to break away from solely women’s and men’s sections, and shift to a fluid layout that creates a safe shopping environment for people of all genders, identities, and expressions. London based retailer, Selfridges, launched an in-store genderless experience titled “Agender” in 2015, that was organized by color, fit, item, and style. Other brands have used this as a merchandising tactic, such as Adidas organizing their new shoe collections based on the sport they were designed to be used for. On the other hand, online retailer, SSENSE, merchandises menswear in their womenswear section, as a way of appealing to people of all identities. All aspects of the shopping experience, regardless of in-store or online, have begun to adapt to a genderless system.

Designers and brands have also begun adjust their sites and styles to adhere to the ideas of a genderless wardrobe. Luxury designer, Stella McCartney has a section on the website featuring unisex apparel, such as tops, bottoms, hats, bags, and shoes. Similarly, Gucci has a gender-neutral selection of pieces on their site, under the title “MX”, stating that it is meant to “deconstruct preconceived binaries and question how these concepts relate to our bodies”. However, while sites and stores are becoming more inclusive of space, the actual designs are lacking in going above and beyond in style. Typical gender-neutral collections are filled with one-size, oversized shirts and hoodie, which is an easy way to avoid the complex question of how to incorporate a variety of sizes and fits to assimilate to all individuals body types. U.K. based brand Gender Free World has a unique approach to sizing. Unlike most retailers, they have a sizing chart where shoppers choose both a body shape and size. There are four body shapes to choose from, and up to nine sizing options to choose from. Having these different sizing options allows consumers to tailor their clothing to fit them how they desire. Size inclusivity is one way designers are becoming more gender-less in their apparel design. Expressing gender-neutrality and non-conformity on the runway is great, but not accessible to everyday people, thankfully some more common retailers such as Pacsun and Gap have launched gender neutral collections. Everything in the fashion industry, until now, has been on a binary system. From the development and design process, to store merchandising arrangements, everything has been under the infrastructure of binaries. Fashion design’s methodology has always been limited to designing menswear or womenswear, but now designers need to think outside the realm of what they know and design for non-conforming people. Currently, the gender notions and norms of design make it difficult for non-conformists to find apparel that affirms their identity, which fuels the idea of body dysmorphia and social anxiety. The gender-free category is something that all brands should be considering and figuring out how they can adapt it to their brand aesthetic. LGBTQ+ and women owned brands have been the leading pioneers of the gender-inclusive design space. Since 2013, the brand TomboyX has designed everything from intimates to activewear to everyday apparel for all sizes and identities. Their adaptive clothing is made for trans and gender nonconforming customers in mind. The new generation of designers are actively designing with the thought of non-conformity at the forefront of their process.

Designers now have to consider a new approach to designing a garment. There is no longer the idea of solely a pattern for menswear or womenswear, the focus is now creating something that is attractive no matter who wears it. Paris designer, Arturo Obegero, states that it is important to “create garments with soul and substance that people can cherish forever and make them feel free to express themselves..It’s about fantasy, especially today when it’s most needed”. Genderless fashion is not a new topic but its technicalities are being explored on runways and class all over the world. The majority of clothes produced today are created for mainly cis heteronormative audiences. It is essential to provoke change through gender, queerness, sexuality, and beauty. An advantage of gender-less clothing is that it has the potential to reach larger audiences and attract more people, but the fit can be limited due to sizing. Blurring the boundaries of the sexes, creates a dynamic androgynous collection, but it must consider the proper movement of the garment and aspiration for each action, and apply these observation to create a sizing pattern that will allow this to happen for all people of all sizes that choose to purchase the garment. The industry is decoding what it means to be “genderless fashion”, it is not just a buzz word to slap on a gender neutral collection of oversized shirts, but a symbol for inclusion and diversity. Rad Hourani, the first to have adopted the genderless distinction, describes how brands present loose-fitting designs as a way of approaching gender-less fashion, but he suggests a deeper look at unisex morphology. “If you give a human a neutral garment, they will wear it any way they want”, Hourani says about creating less restrictive gendered fashion. Designers should strive to have clothing that can be worn on multiple body types. That is the first step in understanding how to create something that is gender-free. It is essential for designers to gain an understanding of what it means to create fluid fashion. Fluidity in sizing, and fluidity in textiles, patterns, colors, and silhouettes. Norma Kamali, a current designer in the genderless fashion scene, believes “how we express ourselves through clothing is how we come alive”.

The fashion industry is an ever-changing platform that is fueled by consumer needs and societal events. Gender fluidity and nonconformity have been the hottest demands placed on designers, as queer, trans, and non-binary individuals have sought ways of expressing themselves through dress. The industry is learning and adapting what it means to create gender-free apparel, and breaking down the normalities commonly associated with how the design process works. It is a concept that was born in our native civilizations and communities, and was lost through expansion and industrialization. It is now time to reclaim the power and prestige of nonconformity not only in dress, but in all aspects of one’s lifestyle.