Genderless Shoppers is Fashion's Future

@HIGHSNOBIETY / EVA AL DESNUDO

While women have been comfortable wearing men's clothes for decades, men also now have fewer hesitations when it comes to buying and wearing women's fashion. And those purchasing patterns are challenging traditional gendered retail categories.They're also seeing women empowered by the #MeToo movement and listening to K-pop boy band BTS and streetwear-loving Billie Eilish, whose personal styles are not confined to gender norms. Big brands have taken a similarly emboldening approach, including Gucci's brash open-minded brand messaging, JW Anderson's co-ed shows, Nike's gender-neutral activewear collection, Dior Men's transparent shirts, and Thom Browne's Instagrams of men in heels and skirts. Sandy Liang, whose eponymous line was also initially marketed for women, noticed that men were buying colorful oversized fleece jackets. Sandy Liang, whose eponymous line was also initially marketed for women, noticed that men were buying her colorful oversized fleece jackets. Although her unisex collection has yet to be delivered to the store, the pop-up has attracted a customer base that is split equally between men and women. With more men buying pieces from women's collections and vice versa, Lak and Liang have started to see the operational benefits for their brands.

"If we have a fabric that we are selling both in the women's collection and men's collection, [instead of] setting up an order of, say, 400 meters, we can now have an order of 800 meters, because you're actually doubling sales in the same fabric," he says.

" Genderless fashion consumers Eckhaus Latta Vaquera gender fluidity SANDY LIANG "If a brand is presenting both men's and women's collections, they're doubling the cost," says Karelis of having two shows several times a year. I hope at some point that the fashion week system is going to change the way it is presented right now, so it connects men's and women's.

"I think sizing and fit differences will always dictate the need for men's and women's departments," says Doug Stephens, an author and futurist known for his predictions about the retail industry. He cites the commercial success of the Maison Margiela split-toe Tabi shoes, which in the '80s were predominantly worn by women. The style was relaunched with heels for men.

“I think that my men's clothes look as good on women as my women's clothing,'' influential Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto told The New York Times in 1983. “I always wonder who decided that there should be a difference in the clothes of men and women.”

Citation:

Cordero, W. B. R., & CorderoContributor, R. (2019, June 13). Fashion's future is genderless shoppers, not genderless fashion. Highsnobiety. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/genderless-fashion-consumers/.