Gender - The future of fashion: Gender Neutral or Hyper-sexualised and gender aware?

Gender

The future of fashion: Gender neutral or Hyper-sexualised and Gender aware?

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Snapshots Abstract

This report analyses the societal context and implementation of two opposing trends; Gender neutral and Gender aware.

Through thorough research it will be determined which one will be the most prominent trend in the near future, why it will be the most prominent and how it may evolve.

Methodologies

Primary Research was conducted through two surveys, One for each side of the debate. It was limited to 100 participants to ensure a comprehensive result. Many sources were used for secondary research such as magazines, online articles, trend journals, secondary surveys, market information and trend analysis’.

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Contents the cover

Gender

The future of fashion: Gender neutral or Hyper-sexualised and Gender aware?

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1. Introduction

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2. Gender neutral

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Agender Photography Jack Knight

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2.1 Social context

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2.2 implementation

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2.3 Future development

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3. Gender aware

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XXX/2 Photography An Le

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3.1 Social context

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3.2 implementation

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3.3 Future development

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4. Summary

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4.1 SWOT analysis

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4.2 Conclusion

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5. Appendices

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6. Bibliography

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1. Introduction Men and women’s roles in society are blurring, more men are becoming stay at home father’s and more women are having careers of their own. As fashion and advertising both mirror and subvert society, two opposing trends have come into fruition, Gender neutral and Gender aware. This Report will put these trends into societal context, explain how these trends are being implemented into fashion, predict how they will develop and which will overtake as a mega-trend. The gender neutral trend came to light at the LSN trend conference where a new trend, “Reversed Roles”, was shown. The conference advised that brands should prepare for a genderless retail environment to cater for “The Athena woman” “The Re-Con Man” and “Generation I” (LSN Global, 2014). On the opposite side to this it is undeniable to say that the media and advertising is becoming much more sexualised. This has developed into a new brand of feminism, Sex-positive feminism, celebrity fashion icon’s such as Miley Cyrus (Who has developed a new sexualised aesthetic) have publicly supported.

For example Miley has said “I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women not to be scared of anything” (The Guardian, 2013).

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2. Gender Neutral

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Agender

Photography by Jack Knight Styling by Matthew Cuerden

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2.1 Social Context

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The reasoning behind the “Agender” or Gender Neutral trend is hard to avoid, with popular social media sites such as Facebook allowing you to define your own gender, “to describe yourself in a way that feels right to you.”. These changes are not just seen on social media, Labour and green (Political parties) have openly discussed a review on gendered passports “that which will allow people to list their gender as “X”” (Dazed Digital, 2015). Some would describe society as being in a gender revolution, traditional gender rolls are changing and the gender binary is becoming more blurred as time goes by.

“Men have become defined by what they consume, which has led to a feminizing process.” and “Brands that ‘shrink and pink’ in an effort to appeal to women are out.” (LSN global, 2014). 64% of Australian women believe that lifestyle and consumer products should no longer be marketed by gender (Future Poll, 2014), this shows how society is progressing towards a non gendered way of thinking, that gender no longer defines the products we consume.

Traditional female products such as makeup and skincare have already begun to be taken on by men, the mens grooming market is expected to grow by 9% and achieve $6.1 billion in retail sales by 2017 with new lines by big brands such as Tom Ford expecting to generate as much as $2.5 million in its first year (WGSN, 2013, p.6). Of course women have been indulging in traditionally male endeavours since the world wars and the rise of feminism, men are seen as being less open to traditionally female products, with the exception of metrosexual men from culturally forward urban centres who “now pay more attention to how they dress, and the rules on what is masculine are relaxing a bit,” (Fashionista, 2014). Various sources have pointed towards men as being the main reason the gender binary is still intact, a survey conducted found that 88% of people think women can wear traditionally male garments

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(Appendix A) whilst 68% of people believe that men should not wear traditionally female garments (Appendix B) although 79% of people claim to own a piece of unisex clothing (Appendix C). The idea of unisex rather than “Cross dressing” seems to be much more accepted by society, it is no wonder why gender neutral products are on the rise as “consumption patterns are no longer defined by ‘traditional’ demographic segments such as age, gender, location, income, family status and more.” (Business of fashion, 2015).

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2.2 Implementation text Jack Knight photography Greta Ilieva

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It would be near impossible to discuss the implementation of this trend without mentioning Selfridges newly launched Agender pop up department. Created by the renowned designer Faye Toogood the space is intended to give people the freedom to transcend gender boundaries and to focus on the product without distraction. The concept retail space contains no gender defined mannequins, branding or clothing racks to allow people to decide for themselves what they would like to wear, “Individuals shouldn’t be constrained by the artificial divisions of society or commerce” (iD, 2015). Ed Lee’s AW15 mens collection (Above) has received much critical acclaim for its take on the Agender trend, Inspired by the 70’s “a time when traditional values were questioned, and that led to an explosion of individualities.”, created for the modern man his collection was an eclectic mix of floral patterns and glam rock silhouettes to appeal to the men of this generation who “have less pressure to behave or dress in a certain way or to adhere to a certain type of masculinity.” (Dazed, 2015). Similarly Nicola Formichetti (Creative Director of Diesel) has recently launched his own Agender clothing brand Nicopanda, Nicopanda has been the flagship for Agender since its launch,

playing off the unisex children ruffled dresses of yesteryear he transports you back to a time when clothing did not define gender, boys and girls wore the same clothing.

This gender neutral trend is not a new idea though, throughout the 1960’s and 70’s unisex clothing was in its early stages, it started as underwhelming “Uniformity with a masculine tilt” for women, which intern caused a trend of more gender aware clothing in the 80’s.

The trend was at its peak in america in 1968 and only lasted for the year with no further development. Of course the idea of androgyny and Agender was developed through the avant-garde designs of high end fashion, which did not translate through to the high street sectors. Modern androgyny and Agender can be traced back to the 1990’s and the grunge movement where women were wearing mens shirts and stars such as Kurt Cobain donned ballgowns. (The Atlantic, 2015). The only difference now being the many changes within society, accepting the dissolution of the gender binary, and the willingness of new designers to reflect this in their work and “translate the same idea for both genders,” (Fashionista.com, 2014).

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2.3 Future Development

From the research conducted, the way this trend will move forwards is for more permanent Agendered spaces to be developed along the lines of Selfridges Agender department. Men from less metropolitan areas would have to become more accepting of a diverse range of garments. As society is already changing to a more gender accepting place this trend will only grow to reflect those changes. The Gender neutral trend will also allow designers “greater freedom, with a much broader range of forms and silhouettes to explore� (iD, 2015).

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3. Gender Aware

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MOSCHINO 31

XXX/2

photography An Le styling Aaron Bernstein

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3.1 Social context

text Jack Knight photography Giampaolo Sgura 36

The sexualisation in fashion and media as a whole is undeniable, half naked female artists don our screens and magazines every day whilst half naked men are featured on billboards on every street corner. 92% of people surveyed said that society had become too sexualised (Appendix D), this can be seen through Oxford university stating “Consent is a thing now” (Dazed, 2015) to Lego giving 5 year old girls beauty and makeup tips (Mintel, 2014) society treats sexuality as a joke and does not think of the consequences.

Starting from children females in particular are guided to become objects of the male gaze, when asked if she would be entering any more beauty pageants a young girl replied with “Yes, If mummy told me to”.

(The Guardian, 2010). The rise in popularity of reality TV shows such as “Dance Mom’s” and “Toddlers and Tiara’s” showcasing pushy mothers and their daughters with folded views on how they should dress shows how the sexualisation of todays society is affecting the next generation. 68% of 13-15 year old girls are worried about

what other people think of them and on average this age group spends 45% of their pocket money on makeup and skincare products (Mintel, 2014). Many sources cite toys such as Barbie (who recently appeared on the cover of Sports illustrated magazine) to be contributing to these statistics, many feminists and parents “despise Mattel for this sexualised image of impossible beauty” (The

Guardian, 2014). This is a large change from previous generations where young girls did not have access to these products and media, this stems from a “tendency to reject any attempt to restrict or impede our access to content, or even 37

our experience of access to that content” (The Guardian, 2011).

“A study by University at Buffalo sociologists has found that the portrayal of women in the popular media over the last several decades has become increasingly sexualized, even “pornified”” (EduCoup, 2014) this further supports the social context of this sexual and gender aware trend in fashion. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Beyonce have subverted the sexualised image they have to declare their feminism, Cyrus, known for her hyper sexualised aesthetic said ”I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything”.

The hyper sexualisation of society could be taken in a positive way, allowing women to be in control of their own sexuality.

Brooke Candy, one of Cyrus’ label mates also has a highly sexualised aesthetic (Refined

by Stylist Nicola Formichetti), one of her most famous lyrics is “Slut is now a compliment”. In an interview Candy said “My main goal is to empower females and break down the barriers of how women are supposed to behave sexually” (Vice, 2012).

2.2 Implementation text Jack Knight photography David Shama

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The sexualisation of fashion can be seen very clearly though the usage of suggestively sexual imagery by various brands. One of the most infamous instances of this was the 1981 Calvin Klein campaign featuring a 15 year old Brooke Shields saying “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins… nothing” (The Telegraph, 2010), the company received a lot of backlash from the public for this campaign as it featured an underaged girl in suggestive poses and suggestive dialogue. This criticism only fuelled the brands sales, more people were talking about the controversy which caused more people to buy them. The usage of sexual imagery in fashion has been proven to be successful in boosting sales and as a viable marketing ploy. This can also be seen in the way American apparel advertises, the UK ASA described the positions of their models as “vulnerable”, “gratuitous” and “voyeuristic”, one of their campaigns was labelled as pornographic for depicting a school girl leaning over to show her underwear which also received public backlash. On this issue of this topic a representative from American apparel said “The advertising campaign has become synonymous with our brand name”, this controversial way of advertising raises their profile (The

independent, 2014). Vogue has also come under controversy for using a 10 year old model in miniature women’s clothing, the controversy was over the model “mimicking the sultry pout and steely gaze more common among models more than twice her age” as on journalist put it “It’s inappropriate, and creepy, and I never want to see a nineyear-old girl in high-heeled leopard print bedroom slippers ever again.” (NY daily, 2011). On a more subtle tone brands such as Moschino have used the Barbie aesthetic to craft collections aimed at women, many people saw this as them further instilling the gender binary into people as the only colour used was pink. Though some though the runway capsule collection sold out within a week of being online. There is clearly a market for gender aware clothing and sexualised advertising which has not stopped since its first implementation. Sportswear has also become much more gender based, form fitted clothing out of necessity for movement has proven that not all aspects of fashion can be non gendered “as mainstream fashion continues to explore themes of androgyny and unisex products, a different, more clearly defined stance on gender is shaping sports” (WGSN, 2013).

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2.3 Future Development

From the research conducted moving forwards this trend will become much more subtle, using gender defined colours and less sexualised imagery, American apparel has already changed their imagery to become less sexual and even used a sloth as a model to counter this criticism.

Depending on developments in society this trend could fall into the background as many people would now like gender-less advertising and products.

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4. Summary 4.1 SWOT analysis Gender neutral

Gender aware

Strengths - Gender neutrality is grounded in current societal changes, the push towards customising genders and self identity continues then this trend will continue to thrive. The ability for brands to sell the same clothing to both genders allows for less costs on design and production and therefore a higher profit.

Strengths - Society has had the gender binary and sexual advertising ingrained into it. This is the normal fashion for the majority of society at this point.

Weaknesses - Many people are against the sexualisation and gender based society and fashion. These people will not buy from brands who make clothing or advertise in the aesthetic of this trend.

Weaknesses - Society is unwilling to change too fast. The social norms for gender based clothing has been instilled in people for so long that it will take a while for them to get used to Agender clothing.

Opportunities - If brands adapt to a more subtle version of this trend they could thrive in the fashion industry.

Brands such as Moschino have shown that gender based colours and clothing still have a market.

Opportunities - With the growing interest in unisex and gender neutral clothing there is place for new brands to launch into this new environment and take advantage of the new retail opportunities.

Threats - Brands could be harmed if they do not adapt to the smart consumer who want something more than sexualised advertising and gender based clothing.

Threats - Societal changes, if the “Gender revolution� becomes obsolete or the gender binary becomes stronger the need for unisex or Agender clothing will become less and the market may drop.

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4.2. Conclusion Through careful research most sources were leaning more towards the gender neutral trend as being the most positive, although opinion and emotion aside it is clear that sex sells. Hyper sexualised imagery provides the fuel a brand needs to be talked about. It is unclear where these trends will go or what they will become but recently the trend seems to be leaning more towards the gender neutral side. Traditionally sexualised brands such as American apparel have toned down their image after public backlash and images from Calvin Klein have been banned from distribution. These trends depend upon public opinion and the development of society to form them, the most likely outcome of this, as seen through the history of fashion, is that these trends will swap and change as society does, the gender neutral trend will stay for now until the gender aware trend returns as has done before.

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5. Appendices Appendix A -

Gender neutral survey Q3

Should women wear garments that are traditionally for men?

Appendix B -

Gender neutral survey Q4

Should men wear garments that are traditionally for women?

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Appendix C -

Gender neutral survey Q5

Do you own any unisex clothing?

Appendix D -

Gender Aware survey Q3

Do you feel like society has become too sexualised?

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6. Bibliography LSN Global (2014) 2014/15 Consumer & Lifestyle trend report.

Gaylene Gould, The Guardian (2013) If Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé want to be feminist, they need to quit the celebrity machine. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/23/miley-cyrus-beyonce-celebrity-feminist-2013-women Lisa Walden, Dazed Digital (2015) You might be able to get a gender-neutral UK passport soon. http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/24181/1/you-might-be-able-to-get-agender-neutral-uk-passport-soon Future Poll (2014) Consumer Attitudes Audit Australia Autumn/Winter 2013/14.

WGSN (2013), Consumer attitudes: All about men. http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.uclan.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/39006/ Lauren Sherman, Fashionista (2014), Unisex Fashion: Can it ever be more than a niche category? http://fashionista.com/2014/08/unisex-designers Robin, Mellery-Pratt, Business of fashion (2015) Will Genderless Fashion Change Retail? http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/will-genderless-fashion-work-retail Steve Salter, iD (2015) Genderless retail is the future and it’s here. https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/genderless-retail-is-the-future-and-it39s-here-us-translation Hynam Kendall, Dazed (2015) Ed Lee: gender isn’t a statement any more. http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/24026/1/ed-lee-gender-isn-t-a-statementany-more Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, The Atlantic (2015) A Brief History of Unisex Fashion. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/when-unisex-was-the-newblack/390168/ Zing Tsjeng, Dazed (2015) Oxford University college says ‘consent is a thing now’. http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/22099/1/oxford-university-collegesays-consent-is-a-thing-now Ina Mitskavets, Mintel (2015) LEGO’s ‘Beauty Tips’ for girls - 24th March 2015. http://academic.mintel.com/display/733694/?highlight Elizabeth Day, The Guardian (2010) Living dolls: inside the world of child beauty pageants. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/11/child-beauty-queens Eva Wiseman, The Guardian (2014) Barbie, sexualisation and body image: the debates rage on. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/04/sports-illustrated-cover-barbie-sexualisation-arguments-feminism-body-image

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Jemima Kiss, The Guardian (2011) Sexualisation of children - who is to blame? http://www.theguardian.com/media/blog/2011/jun/06/sexualised-children-media-blame Bernard Moran, Educoup (2013) The disease of sexual objectification: Inside a society that turns women into things. http://educoup.com/2013/04/20/the-disease-of-sexual-objectification-inside-a-society-that-turns-women-into-things/ Jesse Saint John, Vice (2012) Brooke Candy Wants You to Wiggle Your Dick at These Pics. http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/brooke-candy-wants-you-to-wiggle-your-dick-atthese-pics Belinda White, The Telegraph (2010) Calvin Klein ads featuring Lara Stone ordered to be taken down in Australia. http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG8079783/Calvin-Klein-ads-featuring-LaraStone-ordered-to-be-taken-down-in-Australia.html Linda Sharkey, The Independent (2014) Revealed: American Apparel’s most controversial moments following ban on Back To School ad. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/american-apparels-most-controversial-moments-following-ban-on-back-to-school-ad-9712735.html Joyce Chen, NY Daily news (2011) Controversial 10-year-old Vogue model Thylane Loubry Blondeau’s mother speaks out. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/controversial-10-year-old-vogue-modelthylane-loubry-blondeau-mother-speaks-article-1.948586 WGSN (2013) Fashion Forecast: No middle - Genders defined. http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.uclan.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/56055/

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Gender magazine issue 1 Editor in cheif : Jack Knight

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