Androgynous clothing has long been around in fashion with a shift in Women’s clothing as early as the 1910’s when Coco Chanel had given women the gift of trousers throughout the Suffrage movement to get a woman’s right recognised.
Women have long since looked to simpler silhouettes and taken inspiration from Men’s clothing in the way of parred back shirting and boxy fitting jackets.
Fast forward to recent times and introducing ‘genderless clothing’ with brands like J.W.Anderson, Burberry and Margiela offering men and women true ‘his and hers’ clothing through the blend. The movement has been gaining momentum with dropped hems and necklines on Men’s clothing and oversized silhouettes for Women, it was only a matter of time that this filtered into the mainstream market with H&M introducing the offering of ‘unisex’ clothing through its simplistic range getting rid of gender-specific titles.
The shift reflects the realisation and acceptance within todays social climate where ‘labels’ as such are no longer relevant amongst the diversity within this day and age. The oversized basics, loose silhouettes and neutral colours are specific within the collections offered for the unisex. Most of us will already own something which is truly non-gender specific without realising with the shift in fashion over the last few years and moving away from a tailored approach.
As Chanel said herself “I gave women a sense of freedom”. Could this be new ‘equality’ that is needed in the world of fashion right now?
Written by Rubee Variava. Follow the fashion team on Instagram @questfashionlondon.
Image from H&M’s Twitter.
