Fade contours: rethink fashion in fluid terms
There are those who look in the mirror and recognize themselves perfectly in the reflected image, others who instead would like to be the exact opposite of what they are. In the middle, then, there are those who every day change expectations about themselves, but do not live with discomfort their body, nor would they like to change: they just want to be recognized in its perpetual change.
If previous generations had already made considerable efforts to speak up for the concept of diversity, the fierce members of the fresh Generation Z want a real revolution: the gender one. One of the oldest legacies that have been handed down to us is that of the female/male dichotomy: something that for many is very natural, but that makes pawing who in that distinction does not see what is . For this reason the concept of fluidity has been introduced, according to which gender is no longer a given and unchangeable construct, indeed, masculine and feminine become the extreme poles of a continuum within which every person can move freely, changing the expression of his or her self in time and depending on situations: one day you can feel more men, another more women, other times both, others yet neither.
For years now there has been a process of normalization of these changes, to the point that , who until a few years ago did not even know the expression "gender fluid", today he is no longer shocked at the sight of a man with enamel and dressed in clothes considered generally feminine (or at least, not too much).
Speaking of clothes: what better language, if not that of fashion, to tell this new rampant fluid identity? Overcoming, in fact, the now ancestral cliché that "men’s things" and "women’s things" still exist, many important fashion houses, acting as a reflection prism for the transformations taking place in society, have been working for a long time to make the boundaries between genres increasingly
blurred, presenting collections with clothing items ideally intended for him and her. This is how fluid fashion is born, in which widths, shapes and volumes are released from stereotypes and adapt to changes, with soft and relaxed silhouettes, which no longer feel the need to define a certain genre.
It is no longer just about the possibility of having free access to the wardrobe of those who belong to the other sex (so, in fact, the distinction remains), but rather to conceive of a fashion to all dumb, that no longer provides fences and that crosses every border: it is not a man to dress as a woman or a woman as a man, but a person who chooses to wear what he wants, beyond any sterile convention.
Already Coco Chanel had, almost unconsciously, a first no-gender intuition when, determined to make women’s lives easier by freeing them from wearing impractical skirts around the clock, she introduced the suit with trousers for them too.
However, the first true forerunner of this revolutionary movement was, in unsuspecting times, Giorgio Armani, who, since the 1980s, began to think in "fluid" terms by dressing women in his fashion shows with deconstructed men’s clothing and jackets.
But if already forty years ago the father of Italian fashion legitimized the use of men’s clothes for women, thus contributing to their emancipation, what is now experiencing is something, if possible, even more difficult: make men’s fashion more feminine.
Gucci in this is one of the most important names, especially under the brilliant artistic direction of Alessandro Michele: in 2020, when the House has been advocating for years the motto «Future is fluid», is created, in collaboration with some artists of the LGBTQIA+ community, The MX collection, suitable for all genres presented with these words: «Gucci collections aim to deconstruct preconceived dualism and question how these concepts are reflected on our bodies. Exaltation of self-expression in the name of gender equality, Maison presents MX». The highlight of the project is the reinterpretation of the iconic Jackie 1961, the design of which, according to Michele’s own statement, «surpasses traditional classifications, with its versatility and its non binary essence».
Exaltation of self-expression and equality the key words for Gucci, but not only. While Stella McCartney creates Shared, a capsule collection in which Stella, letting the codes of men’s tailoring flow into the female wardrobe, creates a line of unisex pieces designed for a shared wardrobe, John Galliano for Maison Margiela thins season after season the border between man and woman to completely cancel it with the creation of a special genderless bag that pays tribute to the new generations with their values of diversity and inclusiveness. Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton already in 2016 began to glimpse the potential of fluidity in fashion, so much so that, using the face of Jaden Smith for an advertising campaign in which she wears a knee-length skirt, declares that for the young actor son of art to be in those clothes «it is natural, as it would be for a woman to wear a trench coat or a tuxedo.»
Not only Haute Couture, but also Fast Fashion rethinks its collections in genderless terms: an example of cross-dressing is given by the Denim Wo(Man) line by Zara, or from the collection born
from the collaboration of Billie Eilish with Bershka and composed of basic and oversize garments, the same that the singer wears while «claiming I wear what I want to wear. I have no established rules».
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If fashion thought in these terms until not many years ago could have been bizarre even in the eyes of designers, today more than ever it is necessary to ride the wave of changes that new generations are imposing and that have all the flavor of the future. Otherwise, we risk remaining crystallized in a past that, by now, has run its course.
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