Trending: Gender Bender

It was a moment that confirmed what had been brewing in fashion: that gender-neutral style had fully arrived. At the Autumn/Winter 2022 collections, insiders and influencers converged en masse in androgynous, oversized outerwear, boxy tailoring, clunky footwear, sweater vests or tracksuits. Think Annie Hall 2.0, runway edition.

This season, Louis Vuitton led the way with a knockout collection that might just put ties back on the map… for young women. Squid Game star Hoyeon Jung opened the show wearing loose-fitting striped trousers, a leather jacket and a floral printed tie. It was a decidedly mannish look, save for the star’s long, flowing locks, setting the scene for a series of gender-bending, bold-shouldered suits and bomber jackets. Dresses were styled with sporty rugby shirts, reminiscent of how a young co-ed might raid her boyfriend’s closet.

In Milan, Prada co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons took the masculine work uniform of blazer, crew neck wool sweater and mashed it up with artful, deconstructed evening skirts in unexpected textures like silk, leather and paillettes. Fall’s key trend item — the oversized bomber or boxy coat — also made an appearance, subversively festooned with a shock of feathers. 

Fashion’s current Victor/Victoria moment, however, has a long history. The movement began in the 1920s, when Coco Chanel started using men’s pieces in her designs and her own attire. Screen siren Marlene Dietrich pushed the boundaries with her louche, tailored androgyny and stylised men’s drag (dubbed the ‘Dietrich silhouette’). The Second World War years only accelerated the trend, with women filling men’s roles in the workforce.

After a brief return to heavily gendered fashions in the 1950s, with nipped-in waists and full skirts popularised by Dior’s ‘New Look’, the youth quake and sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s blurred the lines once again. Yves Saint Laurent introduced ‘le smoking’ (or the tuxedo for women), along with other totems of men’s style: gangster pinstripes, safari khaki, peacoats and trench coats. Pierre Cardin and Courrèges espoused ‘space age’ unisex silhouettes, with graphic patterns and synthetic fabrics. Halston found fame and fortune with his Ultrasuede shirt dress. By the 1980s, Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto pioneered new ground with deconstructed collections and shapes that spoke to both genders.

A decade later, Calvin Klein launched his revolutionary CK One fragrance, marketed to both genders. The unisex fragrance was a precursor to powerhouse Jo Malone’s gender-agnostic scents or boutique, cult favorites like Maison Francis Kurkdjian, whose unisex Oud and Baccarat are winning new fans. ‘Like a unisex wardrobe, these masculine/feminine fragrances garb the body with their scent trail,’ said the famous ‘nose’, who created scents for major designers before establishing his own maison. To him, they are to be ‘shared with your other’.

Wherever you stand on the spectrum, though, the reality is today’s trend towards oversized blazers and coats, slouchy trousers, chunky footwear, boots or fragrance hits all the right notes. Retro 80s/90s vibes? Check. Comfort? Check. Inclusivity? Double check, as the proportions are forgiving for most bodies. It’s about individual style, with everything fair game — including your boyfriend’s closet.