Fluid Fashion
consumer demands and how the industry is responding
Fashion is a creative form of communication. People can construct and express their identity to the rest of the world through the clothes they put on their body. Though fashion is a creative artform, there have been labels placed on aspects all throughout the industry. These labels separate wearers based on the societal identification of gender. In recent years, these limitations are being challenged more and more by the fashion markets newest consumers and forcing companies to change their core values and construction of product.
Despite what many may think, sex and gender are not the same thing. Sex is a label based on biology assigned at birth, while gender is a form of identification constructed by society. An individual is either born male or female, determined by the physiology of a person.
In the textbook Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions first addition written by Dr. Lisa Wade and Dr. Myra Marx Ferree, the two professors state that it is best to “…use male-bodied and female-bodied to specify that sex refers to the body” (Wade, Ferree, 2019, p.6) in order to better label someone in terms of physiology rather than identity. Meanwhile, gender is cultural. The common reference to this societal construct is called the gender binary. This means that there are only two possible genders. The use of the labels of girl and boy, woman and man, is society’s symbolism of feminine and masculine characteristics connected to female-bodied and male-bodied individuals. Wade and Ferree (2019) further explain:
Gender is a social construct, an arbitrary but influential shared interpretation of reality…the collection of things we lump together as masculine or feminine don’t rely on logical connections between and among them. Instead, they are a jumble of unrelated ideas…we routinely apply a gender binary to characteristics, activities, objects, and people. This isn’t reality; it’s ideology. (pp. 30-35)
In simpler terms: gender is not real. Yet, applying this gender-binary to a newborn is what determines a massive part of a person’s identity. This label dictates many things in an individual’s life, and society has raised everyone to categorize most things within the gender binary for as long as history can recall. But within the past decade, all of that has significantly started to change.
The modern world has begun to understand that gender is a choice. People around the world are breaking through societal barriers and making the personal choice of how to label themselves, whether in contradiction of the binary or completely outside of it. Individuals who identify as transgender identify with the opposite gender than that associated with their sex at birth. Additionally, when an individual is non-binary, that means they do not identify with any gender. The term non-binary is not only for personal identification nowadays. It is also being more frequently used to label merchandise, meaning the product was not created with consideration of gender and non-binary merchandise is being seen mostly impacting the fashion industry.
Fashion is ultimately just man-made fabric, but it’s been separated between the binary for centuries. Society has permanently associated specific styles with a gender limiting a very relevant component in an individual’s self-expression. In Kala Herh’s article What is Gender-Fluid Clothing? Fashion Industry Experts Explain published on NBCNews.com, senior analyst at World Global Style Network, Nick Paget, stated in an interview “the notion that clothing as an expression of our personality belongs to one gender or another is a social construct that needs disassembling” (para. 2). Non-binary fashion, also known as gender-fluid fashion, is playing a big part in dismantling this social construct.
Non-binary fashion is clothing created outside of the stereotypical gender norms, being made for fit with the absence of gender labeling. For example, rather than a dress being made for women, the design is constructed for fit and available to a female-bodied or male-bodied individual. In Herh’s article, black masculinities scholar Nalo Zidan, a designer with Yazi clothing, talks about ignoring the gender association and is quoted saying “a designers focus should be getting the clothes on bodies to be right in relation to sizing” (para. 5). Consumers with interest in the opposite gender’s clothing have struggled for many years, but the markets newest consumers are demanding more.
The latest generation to enter the economy is Generation Z, also referred to as Gen Z. The group consists of individuals who were born between 1997 and 2012, currently ages 26 to 11 years old as of this year, 2023. Representing 40% of consumers, Gen Z is the largest group contributing to the world economy and that percentage is only going to grow as they do. It’s safe to say that companies should be listening to what Gen Z wants, and one thing this young and progressive group is demanding is gender-fluid fashion. UNiDAYS, an online retail and learning platform for college students with over 20 million members, surveyed members in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia about their opinions on gender-fluid fashion. The statistics published in their 2022 The Fashion Pack: Gen Z’s Attitudes Towards Gender-Fluid Fashion, speaks volumes. The study shows that 55% of those surveyed don’t pay any attention to how their clothes are categorized, supporting the idea that Gen Z is seeing through the binary lines of fashion. With 65% believing that brands should provide gender-fluid options, it’s clear that Gen Z consumers don’t see non-binary fashion as a trend; to them it is the future.
Though brands are starting to catch on to the demand, they appear to be struggling to adapt. Unfortunately for them, if they do not evolve, they will likely not remain in business. In CNN’s 2021 article Gender Neutral Clothes are the Next Big Thing in Fashion written by Pariia Kavilanz, FIT fashion business management professor Shawn Grain Carter stated if retailers “…are to survive, they must reflect the value system of this generation to gain lifetime loyalty” (Why Retailers are Catching On section, para. 3). In order to survive, there are companies who are trying to adapt their brands to be a part of the non-binary revolution.
In 2021, Pac Sun was the first mainstream brand to launch what they labeled a gender-free line. Shortly after, Abercrombie created what they called a gender-inclusive clothing collection for kids and then expanded to include an adult’s line. Additionally, Nordstrom, Target, and few other big name apparel companies had partnered with the Phluid Project, a foundation and brand focused on destroying the gender binary, starting with the fashion industry. These brands’ created lines that fit all body types of both female-bodied and male-bodied individuals. The collections focused on the removing the symbolism of gender, such as colors and styles, making the clothes neither masculine nor feminine. However, there was no focus on making fits available of the same product for male-bodied individuals and female-bodied individuals. The results haven’t exactly aligned with what’s considered gender-fluid or non-binary. Instead, they are uni-sex. Uni-sex clothing fits both the male and female form, labeled as one size fits all. As stated previously, gender-fluid clothing is the same product that is made separate ways for female-bodied and male-bodied individuals. Brands are using these terms interchangeably. Experts say they are not interchangeable at all. Kala Herh explains (2022):
The language around gender and fabric is obfuscated, according to scholars and activists debating the distinction and emphasis of gender-fluid over previously popular labels like androgynous, unisex and gender-neutral. But most experts we spoke to agree that gender-fluid is their preferred term, for the time being. Why?
· Gender-fluid clothing is designed to liberate people from the binary of cis women and cis men.
· Unisex, gender-neutral and androgynous are designed to push us to a future where gender doesn’t exist.
(Why is it Called Gender-Fluid? section, para. 1)
Brands have been producing lines they incorrectly label as gender-fluid when they are uni-sex. The results are baggy, shapeless clothing that disregard transgendered and non-binary individuals desire to use fashion as an expression of their identity. In a The Business of Fashion op-ed entitled The Key Element Most Brands Miss About Genderless Fashion, writer José Criales-Unzueta explains that “being gender inclusive is not about cutting the same pair of trousers in two extra sizes...it is about considering the nuances of different bodies and designing for them” (para. 11). For a brand to accomplish non-binary fashion, they must stop gendering items and focus on the desired fit for different body types. There are many brands that have made a genuine effort to adapt to the genderless demand, but the ones that find success are the ones focusing on fit.
The brand Kirrin Finch has executed a form of non-binary fashion by focusing on menswear-inspired clothing that fits a range of female and non-binary body types. Their product focuses on fit rather than identity. The founders' goals surfaced from their own frustration to find clothing that typically isn’t made for their female bodies. The brand created a unique sizing system that focuses on finding the perfect fit for the female form with clothing and styles usually created and sized for a male form. Meanwhile, some companies have figured out their own way to successfully achieve a non-binary brand for different body types.
In 2017, the brand Avoc was one of the first to launch a gender-fluid collection at Paris Fashion Week. The brand focuses on finding a balance between the masculine and the feminine. They’ve made it a point that they are not creating clothing where the same item fits both male-bodied and female-bodied individuals, but rather has the same looks and aesthetics that fit all body types. Additionally, the brand ClHU was founded on the idea that gender-fluid fashion is not just for the LGBTQ+ community, but for anyone who wants to express themselves through fashion without limitations. Just because individuals identify with the gender associated with their sex at birth doesn’t mean they prefer wearing the clothes made available for that gender. ClHu says they are an “all-gender” brand with a focus on inclusion while emphasizing fashion’s relevant role in self-expression. They stray far away from the traditional sizing system by using a color-coded system that puts customers into categories based on fit instead of identity. As demonstrated by a panel of Gen Zers who have continuously encouraged the brands values enthusiastically, ClHu is doing non-binary fashion right. Yet, most of the fashion industry is finding it difficult to leave behind the binary.
The problem is that every aspect of the industry has been split between genders for so long. Small parts of the industry started to make early change, but there has been a question circulating through fashion, for years now, about how to realistically bring the change to every part. In the Vogue 2020 article The Future of Retail is Genderless written by Steff Yotka, Yotka says a great place to start is retail, as that is ultimately where it starts for the consumer. This means removing the labels of women and men from stores and websites. It can be uncomfortable for a lot of people to pick between the two categories within the binary. To help solve this consumer problem, retailers should create new ways to organize products to allow a consumer to easily find what they are looking for. LGBTQ+ fashion leaders say they know that making these gender inclusive options available to young people, will positively affect those trying to explore their gender identity. Fashion shouldn’t limit and oppress people’s exploration of self, but rather help express it. Many designers and companies claim they are trying to break away from the gender binary. However, over half of Gen Z believes the fashion industry is overlooking non-binary and transgender consumers all together. Clearly, brands aren’t doing enough. Those that have started successfully adapting their product mentioned that though it takes work, it’s not that difficult of a thing to do; it’s just new.
Fashion is a way for people to express themselves and it is for everyone. The gender binary is dangerous to the industry because it is all-consuming. It separates people into simple categories when all these complex factors about personal style and fashion go beyond the two groups of woman or man. Rather than making clothes for consumers, these companies are assigning consumers to clothes. The newest generation of consumers wants to see real change. If it takes more time, effort, knowledge, and budget, who cares. Revolution doesn’t happen just by dreaming it into existence.
