Beyond Stereotypes
Fashion is
not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the
street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. –
Coco Chanel
Be it
intentionally or not, what we wear is and always has been an expression of
identity. Fashion conscious or not, every day we dress ourselves in sartorial
statements. The world of fashion is not free of prejudices and stereotypes that
punctuate our society. But the some of the recent trends in fashion have set
the wheels of change in motion. Today, the lines between men’s and women’s clothing
are getting blurred.
Recently,
growing awareness of gender ambiguity and social advancements for the LGBTQ
community in the media have ensured that slowly but surely, a gender revolution
is underway. "Genderfluid"
is one of many words used to describe a person who identifies outside of the
binary "boy or girl”. Though these identities are far from new, large
groups of people who have been historically marginalized and excluded from
social acceptance have finally become visible as they self-advocate for rights
and recognition. And fashion has been the harbinger of this change to a large
extent.
Designers
continue to tackle the perplexity that role clothing and fashion play in gender
expression and social perceptions of gendered bodies through their collections.
Society’s expectations for gender roles have always been reflected in the
choice of clothes for men and women : dresses for girls and trousers for boys,
a man who wears pink has to be either gay or uncomfortably in touch with his
feminine side, for a man to wear jewellery he has to either play a historic
character in one of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epics or conform to the likes of
Bappi Lahiri. Women in pant suits are (more often than not) considered
androgynous which somehow, in this twisted society makes them unsuitable for
marriage (because that’s the ultimate goal, right?).
But what
is refreshing is that on runways around the world, designers are shaking up
long-held societal and sartorial views of who should wear what. Take luxury
designer Thom Browne, for instance. For his spring/summer 2017 men’s collection,
he re-envisioned the traditional men’s suit with high and low skirts. Vivienne
Westwood displayed her latest collection of frocks on male models. Most notably
and by far the most polarizing, Gucci’s creative head Alessandro Michele
cross-pollinated the world of fashion, mixing his unique sense of thematic
historical elements with today’s Snapchat-crazed aesthetic, rendering
brightly-hued and largely ornate floral appliqués on men’s suit jackets and
sundresses. And closer home, Ranveer Singh has not only challenged the rules of
the game but broken gender stereotypes when it comes to fashion. From teaming a
maroon pleated skirt with tailored suit jacket to wearing a pussybow blouse and
a nose ring to complete the look, this man has used fashion’s gender-neutral
revolution to dismantle the gender specific notions when it comes to clothing.
In a country where male actors are idolized and often portrayed as flawless and
macho, always in time to save the damsel in distress, it takes serious courage
for Ranveer Singh to confidently test the very foundation of conventional
masculinity and pull off the gender-neutral look without worrying about
possible mockery that he may be subjected to from the conservative sections of
the Indian society.
Some mall
brands and fast-fashion stores have joined the gender-fluid conversation. This
spring, Swedish retailer H&M released a 19-piece unisex denim line made
with organic and recycled cottons. The Spanish giant, Zara released a 16-piece
collection of unisex items including jeans, shorts, sweatshirts and jumpers all
in neutral colours called Ungendered. With retailers like Selfridges, which
last year launched its Agenderspace, the line between male and female codes is
clearly becoming increasingly blurred in the industry. Indian e-commerce giant
Jabong, recently launched a ‘Be You’ campaign that redefined masculinity.
But like
every good story, this too must come with a flip side. Fashion and celebrity culture have long had an interconnected marriage, one
that has proved incredibly lucrative for all parties involved. It stands to
reason that, as the fashion industry slowly shifts the tide to be more diverse,
inclusive, and gender-fluid, celebrities would proudly start wearing garments
that blur gender norms. But as they merely experiment with gender-fluid fashion
— without actually standing on the front-lines of the gender-fluid movement —
are we giving them too much credit for sparking change?
The way a person
dresses can say a lot about them, but it does not encapsulate their entire
identity. Merely wearing what constitutes to be ‘cool’ in today’s millennial
generation without understanding the gravity of the movement that has taken
years to come into existence and finally foster, is futile. Gender fluidity in
fashion is a byproduct of generations of people struggling to be recognized and
self-defined, despite what others might think. And it is just a small part of
the movement. Genderfluid and other non-binary identities continuously face
miscategorization and expurgation, making their few appearances in mainstream
discussion all the more important. When marginalized genders are used as a
buzzword, as meaningless fillers to tack on to a cool tracksuit, real harm is
done.
So as the wheel
gets reinvented and the dialogue for gender neutrality continues, we must
remember not to fly too high, not to be foolishly ambitious like the chikori.
Because after all, we don’t want to be Icarus. At the same time, it is
important to understand that no matter how small our actions might seem, buying
that oversized t-shirt from the opposite clothing section for instance, we must
remember that we are part of something bigger. We must remember that the damsel
in distress, is secretly a warrior princess.
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