Abstract

LOUREIRO, Eduarda. Has Genderless Become a Fashion Design Label?. Revista Convergências [online]. 2022, vol.15, n.30, pp.99-109.  Epub Nov 30, 2022. ISSN 2184-0180.  https://doi.org/10.53681/c1514225187514391s.30.146.

The word ‘genderless’ carries a cultural and social burden that hasn’t bestowed upon the general audience nor some of the most spoken about brands in the world. There have been top tier designers that have dipped their toes and tried to show a world without binary gender boundaries, but the message is still not accurate. If fashion design seeks its roots in the lifestyle of the beholder, than what lifestyle are some brands representing by showcasing their genderless ideas as neutral, basic and shapeless designs? Fashion is the art through which people can express themselves, but there always seems to be a limitation. The younger generations are questioning those limitations and establishing that we can wear what we want, as long as it’s representative of the gender we feel most, or not at all. There has been a surge of the word ‘genderless’ and several well-established brands are using it to promote, of what can only be pointed out as their marketing agendas. It’s important to understand that most of these brands haven’t done their homework and they haven’t talked to the people who actually go through the experience of a non-binary reality. The problematic isn’t necessarily the use of the word ‘genderless’, it’s the appropriation of the experience of people who aren’t even a part of the conversation. The present paper wants to explore how genderless seems to have become a label and a marketing move for brands and designers to try and engage with yet another audience. But also an exploration of how that is failing, especially when it comes to communicating and relating to the everyday experiences of people who live beyond the binary. Through contextual inquiries and personal interviews, we intent to dive into this experience of the world, with the positives and negatives, trying to sort if genderless is just a trend, or something else entirely.

Keywords : Digital Fashion; Computational Design; Wearable Technologies; Hybrid Bodies; Postdigital.

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