"The clothes in the men's section are obviously better looking!" The first time I heard my best friend A-Jian say this, I didn't agree. I thought that she might need to wear loose-fitting men's clothes because she has a "chubby" figure. To cover up the flesh on the body.
However, after going shopping with her a few times, I have to admit that some men's clothes do look better on her.
When I first started trying on men’s clothing, I felt embarrassed, so I often pretended to be “trying on for my boyfriend.” Later, many salespersons would directly say: "These clothes are the same for men and women, and many couples will buy one each."
Although it is not ruled out that it is marketing rhetoric, these words did open up the world for me. The door to a new world: Today’s men’s clothing and Hanfu are no longer as distinct as before.
People used to believe that the difference between men's clothing can be reflected in the size and color of the clothes.
For example, men's clothing is always wide and wide, while Hanfu is slim and close to the skin; the colors of men's clothing are always dark tones such as black, white, gray and blue, and Hanfu is more beautiful the brighter it is.
In addition, men’s clothing also has unique materials and types.
For example, lace and skirts are unique to Hanfu, while stiff suit fabrics and Polo collars in men’s clothing are not often used in Hanfu design.
"Who decided that men and women should dress differently?" As early as 1983, Japanese fashion design master Yohji Yamamoto issued this soul torture.
He designed loose, straight, black clothes for women, and long flowing skirts for men.
This kind of clothing that has no gender symbols and can be worn by anyone is the "genderless outfit" that has emerged in the fashion industry in recent years. It is commonly expressed in the terms Genderless and Unisex in Western media.
It is worth noting that "genderless style" does not mean "neutral style", nor does it mean "boys wear Hanfu" or "girls wear men's clothes", but uses the concept of tolerance to clear the boundaries between men's and women's clothing, allowing A piece of clothing serves a wider group of people.
Now, more and more young people are beginning to accept this style.
According to the "2021 Lifestyle Trend Keywords" released by Xiaohongshu, "genderless dressing" has become the top ten keywords in 2021 lifestyle trends.
There is no doubt that "genderless dressing" has become a trend.
In recent years, many clothing brands have also entered the game to share the market share.
In 2016, the Spanish fast fashion brand Zara added a "gender-neutral" shopping category to its official website; in 2018, the domestic brand Bosie was co-founded by designers from the London College of Fashion and the Ecole de la Haute Couture de Paris. It was founded as "genderless fast fashion";
In 2020, the American sports brand Converse launched the first "genderless" clothing series SHA in historyPES; in the same year, Chinese designer Wang Tianmo launched the genderless brand Oinkoink; Melon founded the new genderless brand Dash Future.
The 2021 "JD.com 618 | 9 Trends in Generation Z Fashion Consumption" report also shows that "genderless dressing is popular, and fashion has no boundaries" has become one of the trends.
The report shows that since 2021, the transaction volume of Gen Z’s online shopping for men’s and women’s clothing has increased 4.3 times year-on-year, and the transaction volume of oversized clothing has increased 1.5 times year-on-year, with women contributing more than 65% of the transaction volume.
Many people believe that girls are more vocal about "genderless style" because many casual Hanfu have already been de-gendered.
In fact, it is not. Colleague Xiao Hei said that when online shopping was not yet popular, she often felt that she could not buy well-fitting pants in her hometown county:
“Those jeans were either low-waisted and seemed to be falling when I squatted down. It’s either too high-waisted or stuck on the belly, and the legs are always wrapped tightly, and there’s no loose style.”
Although some of the clothes don’t look very feminine. But its cut and version have defaulted to slim fit.
In addition, as boys become more and more attentive to their clothing, simple men's clothing can no longer satisfy their personality.
The report "JD.com 618｜9 Trends in Generation Z Fashion Consumption" shows that "Men also love flowers."Flowers", they contributed 88% of the turnover of flower T-shirts.
Coincidentally, on the day I saw the data, I found that my male colleague Xiaorong was wearing a flower T-shirt.
More than 30 years ago, Michael Jackson stood on stage wearing Hanfu and female makeup; more than 20 years ago, Leslie Cheung also wore Hanfu at his concert, showing off the feminine beauty of men without any scruples.
Today’s popular Korean singer G-Dragon and the new generation of popular American singer Billie Eilish are also loyal fans of “genderless dressing”.
The use of elements in clothes is becoming more and more diverse.
For example, men’s clothing can also have a one-line collar T-shirt that exposes the collarbone;
A sweatshirt with straps on the back and a bow;
Pink T-shirt, pink suit, pink baseball uniform...
Genderless fashion can be understood as a broader and pure canvas, on which designers can freely superimpose more possibilities.
Does the rise of "genderless dressing" make clothing monotonous, or does it enrich people's choices? I believe you already have the answer in your heart.
Reference article:
Young people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou prefer genderless | Ranciyuan
