ANDROGYNOUS FASHION-THE GENIUS OF ALL STYLES

Androgynous style means the one that possesses the characteristics of male as well as female. In other words we can call it a gender neutral fashion . Androgynous fashion style made its debut in 1980 through the work of famous designer YOHIJI YAMAMOTO who is also known as the father of androgyny in fashion. Yohiji and Rei Kawakubo brought in a distinct Japanese style that was gender ambiguous. lately this style has become fashion industry’s favorite venture. Lets explore its impact on the fashion world.

BREAKING THE STEREOTYPE

The social stereotype for male and female dressing has become a cliché with this emerging trend. It has blurred the traditional boundaries of clothing thus, creating a space for greater diversity and inclusivity. By encouraging an ‘Out of the Box’ approach, this style has challenged the conventional notions of genders in fashion. As an example, in 2015 GUCCI’S creative director Alessandro Michele used male models for his female collection and said that “it depicted strong affirmation of freedom beyond cataloguing and labelling”.

NEW MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Androgynous style is favorable for customers who may not identify with traditional gender labels. This has helped several fashion brands to cater to the needs of new audience and thus expand their customer base as well as their business.

LIST OF BRANDS AND DESIGNERS USING ANDROGYNOUS STYLE

1. TOMBOY X-This brand is known for making gender neutral innerwear and lounge wear.

2.TELFAR-It is a New York based fashion brand that makes gender neutral clothing and accessories.

3.ASOS-This brand’s unisex section offers a wide range of clothing with androgynous style.

4.GENDER FREE WORLD-This is a British brand that offers a wide range of unisex attires including T shirts, blouses and suits. The motive of this brand is to make clothing to fit any gender and every body type.

5.69-69– It is a Los Angeles based brand famous for oversized silhouettes and androgynous designs.

NEW CUTS AND SILHOUETTES

Androgynous style is providing new opportunities to the designers to experiment with cuts, styles and silhouettes and come up with non-conventional forms in dressing. This, in turn has led to a more fluid and adaptable approach to fashion, which encourages creativity and innovation.

As an instance, BRAD PIT stole the show at Berlin premiere of his 2022 film ‘BULLET TRAIN’ when he came dressed in a brown linen kilt paired with a creased pink shirt.

GENDER BENDER FOR SOCIAL REFORMS

This style can be used as a means for social reforms and raising awareness for gender identity issues.There are certain sections of society who are still not being accepted by society because of their sexual preferences,androgynous style provides freedom to such people to portray themselves as they please,thus helping them to embrace their choices.

The largest Queer fashion show rocked the New York fashion week in 2022 depicting fashion being used as a means to break the gender barriers for the sake of freedom for all communities.

PROMOTING CROSS CULTURE

As androgynous fashion takes inspiration from various cultures across the world, it can aid in greater cross cultural exchange and collaboration within the fashion industry.

CONCLUSION

The Androgynous style does not come without criticism, as some fear that it can enforce binary understanding of gender by creating a new category of androgynous clothing which is distinct from men or women’s clothing.

Nevertheless, Androgynous Fashion style has made a significant impact on fashion industry by challenging the gender stereotype and promoting inclusivity and expanding market opportunities for fashion designers and brands.

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