Original article here by Kate Johnson for Upstart Magazine
“Expectations of what different sexes should wear are being overthrown. Upstart meets two entrepreneurial ‘gender blenders’ in London who are blurring the boundaries between conventional male and female clothing.
A man in a skirt is an unusual sight, unless of course he’s of Scottish heritage, Kanye West circa 2012, or an actor trying to win back his children à la Mrs Doubtfire. Likewise, a woman dressed in a sharply tailored masculine suit at a formal do might raise eyebrows.
Thanks to the designers who dictate the styles we wear, this is changing. The business of fashion is in a state of sartorial flux and the inability to tell a wardrobe apart from that belonging to someone of the opposite sex is fast approaching.
There were more outfits ignoring conventions of gender in the 2015 Fashion Week collections this year than ever.
Gucci adorned male models with pussy-bowed blouses and boat neck tops in red lace. Men wearing knitted skirts over their trousers strode down the Givenchy catwalk. A printed declaration of Prada’s inspiration was left on the seats, stating: “Gender is a context and context is often gendered.”
As expected, the retailers are in hot pursuit, capitalising on the contemporary mood. In April, Selfridges launched its pop-up concept store – Agender, a zone filled with unisex garments where customers shop with ‘me’, rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’ in mind.
Advertising is rife with evidence of blended boundaries too. Cara Delevingne sports a matching suit alongside the men in DKNY’s latest campaign and a make-up free Julia Roberts looks immaculate in masculine tailoring for Givenchy.
Expectations of what different sexes should wear are being overthrown. Upstart meets two entrepreneurial ‘gender blenders’ in London who are blurring the boundaries between conventional male and female clothing.
Designer Sara Weston (left), wearing her white dress shirt, the most popular garment from her collection A man in a skirt is an unusual sight, unless of course he’s of Scottish heritage, Kanye West circa 2012, or an actor trying to win back his children à la Mrs Doubtfire. Likewise, a woman dressed in a sharply tailored masculine suit at a formal do might raise eyebrows.
Thanks to the designers who dictate the styles we wear, this is changing. The business of fashion is in a state of sartorial flux and the inability to tell a wardrobe apart from that belonging to someone of the opposite sex is fast approaching.
There were more outfits ignoring conventions of gender in the 2015 Fashion Week collections this year than ever.
Gucci adorned male models with pussy-bowed blouses and boat neck tops in red lace. Men wearing knitted skirts over their trousers strode down the Givenchy catwalk. A printed declaration of Prada’s inspiration was left on the seats, stating: “Gender is a context and context is often gendered.”
As expected, the retailers are in hot pursuit, capitalising on the contemporary mood. In April, Selfridges launched its pop-up concept store – Agender, a zone filled with unisex garments where customers shop with ‘me’, rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’ in mind.
Advertising is rife with evidence of blended boundaries too. Cara Delevingne sports a matching suit alongside the men in DKNY’s latest campaign and a make-up free Julia Roberts looks immaculate in masculine tailoring for Givenchy.
Sara Weston is one of the young British designers who pre-empted this trend. Weston gave up her role as a creative executive in an ad agency six years ago to enter fashion territory.
She had neither fashion training nor any experience in the industry, but did have a clear idea of what she wanted: “To create eccentric, tailored menswear inspired by colonialism and the British Raj.”
Her label, Eastie Empire, was born. It fared well. Then a couple of things happened. The showroom stocking her clothes at the time, large menswear brand Oliver Spencer, started to put pressure on her to “simplify” her clothes to fit the more mainstream man.
Simultaneously, more and more women started to show interest in her line. “I kept being asked if I could tailor garments down to fit them. They liked the three button blazers but couldn’t get them anywhere without a feminine twist. If they could, it was Jil Sander and cost £4,000.”
Weston shared their sentiments and realised she had been creating menswear for men when really she wanted to create it for women. “I intended to blend the detailing and the style from menswear, but cut it so it fit well. It’s not the lesbian at the wedding in the oversized suit.”
And so, she launched her eponymous label SJW last year. Her designs are inspired by historical menswear but transcend the look of a woman in dress-up. Weston explains the importance of fit, while still capturing the subtleties of what makes something instantly look like menswear - for example, the length of the fly.
Things are already looking positive. “I had a really good Paris Fashion Week. Comme des Garçons came to look at and photograph my collection twice, which is brilliant. They didn’t place an order, but that’s what happens in this game. People wait to watch you for two or three seasons to see if you’re still there.”
Gender fluidity in fashion is nothing new. Oriole Cullen, Fashion in Motion curator at the V&A, describes the prevalence of the trend throughout history. She points out that despite experimentation in dressing styles from the androgyny of the 20s to glam rock in the 70s, fashion always seems to revert back to traditional conventions.
This time around, a number of factors could lead to the trend tipping into mainstream adoption. According to Cullen, at the top of the list are the facts that menswear is finally being positioned on a par with womenswear, the growth of sportswear (traditionally gender neutral) in the world of high fashion and a global online audience conversing on societal and cultural issues.
She adds: “[Transgender] models such as Lea T and Andreja Pejic have challenged stereotypical notions of gender and beauty. It seems inevitable that designers no longer feel bound by traditional constraints of what constitutes dress for a woman and for a man.”
In reality though, gender non-conformists and people who are trans or transitioning still face challenges in high street stores.
Meera Amin, 29, came out three years ago and has since become increasingly visibly gender non-conforming. “A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to leave the women’s changing room because I don’t look female.” Not being able to get the clothes she wants in sizes that fit is further cause for frustration.
Putting to use her background in business analysis and research, Meera discovered she was not alone and decided to do something about it. She is in the process of developing Bull and Dagger, a gender-free fashion label catering to gender non-conformists and those who are trans or transitioning.
”An individual should have the right to express themselves through the way that they dress. They deserve to wear fashionable clothing that suits not just their sense of style but their body type too.”
It will cost around £50,000 to get the website launched, samples produced and initial social media and marketing campaigns underway. She plans to get this done in time for a planned soft launch at London’s Nine Worlds Convention in August. If this financial target is not met through business grants and known investors, she will turn to crowdfunding website Kickstarter.
Undoubtedly, challenges lie ahead and, as someone who has been there before, Weston provides great insight into how these might look. “If you’re a small bean like we are, you’re up against brands with hundreds of thousands of pounds invested in PR agencies. They’ve got people working around the clock to get their message out there.”
She emphasises the importance of being a jack-of-all-trades. “A new label should have funding and a PR agency on board, with a team doing your social marketing. Really, you need to get your brand out there and build a connection, hype and aspiration.”
Weston also advocates the importance of focusing on one thing. “Nail it. Be known for it. Look at food on the high street now. It’s the ramen noodle shop, the chicken wing shop or the ultimate bone-marrow burger. Your product needs to be the gourmet equivalent in fashion.”
Amin has high hopes for her unisex skirt/kilt and feels it bridges a gap. “Most gender non-conforming women – myself included – feel uncomfortable wearing a skirt or a dress. This is an item that can be considered feminine, masculine or androgynous and gives both sexes the option to experiment with gender fluidity.”
So what then is Weston’s pièce de résistance? She replies without hesitation: “My white dress shirt, which is a typical men’s shirt with traditional marcella pique on the front bib. I’ve got three.”
While society is still a way off from full disregard of binary gender fashion norms, Weston and Amin are creating the garments that might just encourage change. ”
