The word ‘genderless’ carries a cultural and social burden that hasn’t bestowed upon the general audience, nor some of the most spoken about brands in the world. There have been top tier designers that have dipped their toes and tried to show a world without binary gender boundaries, but the message is still not accurate. If fashion design seeks its roots in the lifestyle of the beholder, than what lifestyle are some brands representing by showcasing their genderless ideas as neutral, basic and shapeless designs?

La Ferla (2015) calls it a movement. Hilario (2019) calls it a new concept. Fashion is the art through which people can express themselves, but there always seems to be a limit. The younger generation is questioning those limits and establishing that we can wear what we want, as long as it’s representative of the gender we feel most, or not at all (Risman, 2018).

There has been a surge of the word ‘genderless’. Several well-established brands are using it to promote, of what can only be pointed out as their marketing agendas and a cross-off list of the cultural and social issues riding around. It’s important to understand that most of these brands haven’t done their homework. They haven’t talked to the people who actually go through the experience of a non-binary reality every day.

The problematic isn’t necessarily the use of the word ‘genderless’, it’s the use of the experience of people who aren’t even part of the conversation. So the question remains, has genderless become just a label and marketing move for brands and designers, or is it here to stay and establish a third gender in fashion design? The present paper will address these issues, using contextual inquiries, trying to sort if genderless is just a trend in fashion design, or something else entirely.

Key-words: fashion; gender; genderless; fashion design; communities.

Bibliography:

Allaire, Christian (2019); Billy Porter On Why He Wore a Gown, Not a Tuxedo, to the Oscars; Vogue; https://www.vogue.com/article/billy-porter-oscars-red-carpet-gown-christian-siriano; last seen on April 16th 2021.

Anyanwu, Obi (2020); Decoding Genderless Fashion, the Future of the Industry; WWD; https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/genderless-fashion-future-of-industry-1203381685/; last seen on April 16th 2021.

Daniella Hilario (2019); How Gender Fluidity Affected the Fashion World Today; Medium; https://medium.com/gbc-college-english-lemonade/how-gender-fluidity-affected-the-fashion-world-today-b02ff2772e0d; last seen on April 15th 2021.

Hardy, Alyssa (2018); Why Does Gender Neutral Clothing Translate to “Boys” Clothing?; Teen Vogue; https://www.teenvogue.com/story/gucci-chime-for-change-gender-fluidity-clothing-gen-z; last seen on April 15th 2021.

Kaiser, Susan B. (2012); Fashion and Cultural Studies; Oxford: Berg Publishers.

La Ferla, Ruth (2015); In Fashion Gender Lines Are Blurring; The New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/fashion/in-fashion-gender-lines-are-blurring.html; last seen on April 16th 2021.

Madsen, Anders Christian (2018); Is the Fashion Industry Really Committed to the Eradication of Gender-Specific Dressing?; British Vogue; https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/genderless-fashion; last seen on April 15th 2021.

Risman, Barbara J. (2018); Where the Millennials Will Take Us: a New Generation Wrestles with the Gender Structure; Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tobia, Jacob (2017); I’m Gender Fluid. Vogue, Got a Minute to Talk About This New Cover?; Cosmopolitan; https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a10307449/vogue-gigi-zayn-gender-fluid-appropriation/; last seen on April 16th 2021.