SKIRTING THE I SSUE
THIS SEASON, DESIGNERS ARE BREAKING DOWN THE FINAL GENDER BARRIER IN FASHION. BY JEFFREY YAN
Genderlessness in fashion isn’t a new concept—it entered the contemporary fashion discourse when Alessandro Michele made his debut at Gucci. What is new is that this season, the look is not so much gender neutral as it is distinctly feminine, in the sense that it borrows heavily from the last remaining trope of conventional womenswear. The subversion of gender in menswear is no longer just about a little pussybow here and some lace there; this season, we’re seeing full-on skirts and dresses—the effect of which is amplified even further when shown on models who present as male instead of non-binary. And where the conventions of gender was once an issue explored only by a handful of designers—most of them on the cutting edge of the fashion spectrum—this season, even the most established names and biggest brands are adding their considerable voices to the conversation.
One of the designers who has spent his entire career pushing the boundaries of gender conventions is Jonathan Anderson. He did it when he was a young upstart in London making waves with his eponymous label and he brought that sensibility over when he took the top job at LOEWE. His menswear for the LVMH-owned Spanish label has always had a certain softness, but his spring/summer 2022 collection is his most fluid one yet. It is a celebration of all the joys of dressing up and in doing so, he also celebrates the power of individuality. There are drapey silk dresses; soft, sheer knits; full skirts; coat dresses cinched at the waist; sweater dresses with holes cut out of them; swishing rope fringe; and glittering lamé and sequins. “I wanted it to feel like it was fluid and something where we were not getting locked into a universal kind of gender boundary. I think there’s nothing more appealing than when you see a look that transforms your state of mind,” said Anderson of the collection.
At Marni, the season is also all about the sense of joy when clothing becomes unconstrained by societal conventions. Working with only the simplest ingredients—naive stripes and daisies—Francesco Risso dressed men and women alike in tank dresses and t-shirt dresses, body-skimming togas, and blazers worn with nothing underneath. It is a simple proposition made powerful by the designer’s celebration of bodies in all shapes and colours.
Hedi Slimane is not a name often associated with diversity, but the designer has made considerable progress in expanding the breadth of his vision. From a narrow take on masculinity, his CELINE now has a thrilling, freewheeling sensibility: The designer’s spring/summer 2022 collection is rooted in a familiar rock and roll, skate and surf aesthetic, but that aesthetic has also grown to encompass fabulously femme pieces such as pleated tulle skirts, black lace blouses, mid-length leather skirts, and floor-sweeping sequinned tunics and silken capes.
But the most convincing runway-to-real-world proposition of genderlessness this season comes courtesy of Raf Simons, whose work at Prada seems to have re-energised his output at his eponymous label. At the latter, the designer sent both men and women down the runway in skirt suits, shirt dresses and smocks that toy with the conventions of corporate uniforms, ceremonial garb and rave culture. At Prada, Simons and Miuccia Prada subverted the idea of sexy summer dressing—showing waifish boys in thigh-baring skorts worn with cropped tanks and boat neck knits. In her show notes, Prada said that the collection is about “a sense of the utopian, the ideal, of hope, positivity” and about “freedom”. In the film that accompanied the collection’s release, the models meander through a tunnel before bursting out into a bright, beautiful utopia. Here’s to more designers embarking on that journey; here’s to freedom.