Equal opportunity has a look: Gender neutral style

Fashion fluidity is having its moment in the sun, as Gen Z and millennial fashionistas make a strong case for identity and acceptance.

If there’s anyone who makes a compelling case for fashion fluidity, it’s Harry Styles. He was on the US Vogue December 2020 cover wearing a gown and said, “When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women’, …obviously you open up the arena in which you can play.” In an ‘express yourself’ world, Styles, actor Billy Porter and closer home, Ranveer Singh, are coming out to play. So fashion houses are ready with their binary-busting creds. Gucci, Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton are going increasingly gender fluid. In India, Antar-Agni, Huemn, Bloni, Kanika Goyal, No Grey Area and others are championing it.

Empower the wearer

The momentum is thanks to the changing mindset of fashion’s most important retail customers: Generation Z and millennials. Young people today are connected and have access to wider conversations about gender, identity and self-acceptance, says Shyma Shetty, co-founder of Huemn. “The objective of gender-neutral fashion is simply to empower the wearer with the idea that fashion is made for everyone, not for a particular body, gender, age or look.” Fashion expert Sujata Assomull notes, “Gender neutral is not new. What’s new is the conversation in fashion around diversity and inclusivity.”

But brands shouldn’t dilute the larger message of gender movements. Influencer Siddharth Batra points out, “For some, it’s a decision to cater to a growing market; for others, it’s their personal aesthetic.” Assomull adds, “It must be an option, even if it’s not an option for everyone.” Antar-Agni’s Ujjawal Dubey feels that his focus was always to create compelling design. But, he says, “Why make everything massy? It’s an expression and a certain belief. And belief will have a restricted form of functioning.”