The Evolution of Unisex Fashion: Zara’s ‘Ungendered Collection’

Introduction

1.1 Background Information

Fashion is an evolving phenomenon that connects with every individual in the society, but levels of acceptance vary as some embrace and others ignore it; yet it does not discredit the constant place that fashion has in the contemporary society. Fashion has undergone significant transformation over the years, but the current discourse revolves around the question: ‘Who decided that men should dress differently than women?’ posited by Cunningham (2014) in reference to Rad Hourani October 2007 infamous first ever Unisex Couture. The question is interlinked to a shift in perceptions in relation to what men and women should wear. In a study by Blakemore (2003) on children’s beliefs about violation of gender norms, it was established that preschoolers ranked violation of gender norms to be less serious compared to violation of other social norms. Historical changes in fashion have been founded on such shifts in perceptions, an assertion corroborated by Harrod’s (2016) observation that: ‘Fashion has never been a particular respecter of traditional gender categories.’ Consequently, the 20 th century saw an increase in unisex fashion, and a similar trend is being witnessed in the 21 st century.

According to Harrod, the past century saw girls dress happily as boys, and boys experiment with womenswear. Paoletti (2015) posited that unisex clothing was an outcome of the changing roles of men and women following World War II that led to the need to correct rigid gender stereotyping. As a result, unisex clothing of 1960s and 1970s sought to ultimately diminish or transcend the gender lines, but instead produced uniformity with a masculinity orientation; the brief fashion flirtation with gender neutrality resulting in “a stylistic whiplash,” marked by the return to gendered clothing for women and children from 1980s (Chrisman-Campbell, 2015). However, evidence from fashion dealers suggests that unisex clothing has made a strong comeback in the 21 st century, with some fashion behemoths such as Zara, parading their ungendered collections. It is of crucial importance to establish and examine drivers of such unisex fashion trends to fully understand its implications.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Unisex is becoming an increasingly popular fashion trend after it suffered a whiplash from the 1980s. Global brands, notably Zara, are parading their unisex collections as a new marketing strategy. The trends are an outcome of contemporary movements that influenced different phenomena in the society, fashion being one of them. For instance, the New Harmony movement which was active in the 19 th century led to acceptance of unisex trousers. The emerging argument is that contemporary social movements in relation to individuals’ sex and gender identity have had significant influence in the adoption of unisex fashion in the modern society. Paoletti (2015) posited that unisex fashion is an outcome of contemporary social movements aimed at addressing equality of sexes or freedom from gender roles. The implication is that social movements and subcultures have immensely influenced fashion and are behind the rise in unisex collections. Therefore, it is important to explore social factors that are responsible for trends in proliferation of unisex fashion.

1.3 Justification of the Study

The last two centuries markedly showed the blurred lines in the definition of gender, expressing cultural uncertainty surrounding masculinity and feminity (Arvanitidou & Gasouka, 2013). The uncertainty partly owes to gender being a social construct, and is shaped by two basic socio-cultural factors: dressing and fashion. According to Park (2013), dressing and fashion have been employed to deconstruct the differential treatment of male and female through unisex and androgynous styles. Unisex style attempts to conceal gender differences while androgynous style seeks to unite the male and female body, returning it to a primordial cosmic unity with the objective to appease the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding gender. In response to observed increase in the debate around gender neutral fashion, Zara is the latest brand to take the mantle through its unisex and androgynous designs (Cherrington, 2016).

1.4 Research Aim and Questions

The main aim of the research was to establish factors behind the continued increase in relevance of unisex fashion. The aim of the study was accomplished through use of both relevant and credible scholarly and non-scholarly sources. Therefore, the following research questions are employed to that effect:

What are some of the social movement that contributed to evolution in unisex fashion over the years?

How have changing perception of male, female, and gender roles influenced the adoption of unisex fashion?

What role have LGBT movements played in advancing the adoption of unisex fashion?

Fashion brands are the drivers of dressing and clothing trends, how have they responded to the trends in unisex fashion?

Literature Review

2.1 Drivers of the Evolution in Unisex Fashion

The evolution of unisex fashion is comprehensively captured in Gunn’s (2015) Body Acts Queer , which explores “performative and ideological functions of clothes with regard to gender, feminism, and queer.” Clothes are the pillar of body appearance and constitute anything that contributes towards such configuration including hairstyle, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics. However, the debate on unisex and androgynous fashion has focused on dress itself rather than the accompaniments. According to Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2013) significant cross-cultural differences exists in regards to the association between sex and clothing. This observation corroborates Gunn (2015) argument that the evolution of unisex fashion is inspired by social movements advocating for different aspects of gender, feminism, and queer. Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2013) posited that “The dress has the most direct contact with the human body and is therefore considered an integral part of the Self” (p. 111). Therefore, unisex fashion is pertinent in the contemporary society where individual struggle with cases of gender identity, a discourse fanned by social constructions of male and female and their associated dressing and clothing codes.

Unisex fashion has existed through centuries, but the recent craze that has seen brands launch their own collections of the same justifies Coco Channel assertion that “fashion is always of the time in which you live” (Coco Chanel Biography, n.d). The 21 st century has experienced a stronger wave in regards to gender, feminism, and queer, the increase in unisex fashion can be attributed to these developments. However, it is of paramount importance to distinguish between the evolution in unisex and androgynous fashion and general trends in fashion, especially the carefree dress code (funky style) that women adopted in the 1970s where they wore what they chose – with feelings being a key contributor. While such carefree approach to dressing dictates how women dress themselves today, its evolution was paralleled by that of unisex fashion. The motivations were different, but they both ultimately contributed to a shift from the traditional conservative clothing of decades hitherto, and redefine perceptions of what was acceptable clothing for the future fashion industry. In the modern contemporary society, one cannot be fallible if they employ the phrase “my dress my choice” to justify their dressing style. Unisex fashion is founded on such principles, which are the fruits of various social movements that advocated for gender equity, feminism, and queer rights, with bias to dressing and clothing.

2.2 Social Movements and the Revolution in Unisex Fashion

There are many ways of standing up for what matters and fashion designers have been at the forefront in using dressing and clothing styles to advance social and political interests. However, Yangzom (2016) argued that little is known about how dress and clothing movements have been used by activists to influence social change. Citing the case of Tibetan Lhakar movement, Yangzom (2016) argued that activists employed clothing as the “materialization of the political consciousness of the movement and symbolically acts as a mechanism of communication in shaping its political goals” (p. 622). A similar approach has been used by activists and fashion designers alike in social movements aimed at diminishing the relevance of social gender constructs that have been historically perpetrated using gendered clothing. Social movements to counter these constructions of masculinity and feminity led to dress movements such as Macaroni (1760 - 1780), Baeu, (early 18th century), Dandies (early19th century) and Mods (20th century) and various teen subcultures, which also confirmed the differential treatment of male and female (Arvanitidou & Gasouka, 2013). Similarly, the 21 st century has witnessed increased activism with clothing being used to create new political opportunity structures for civic participation in advancing gender equity, feminism, and queer rights.

2.2.1 Gender, Equality, and Unisex Fashion

The examination of perceptions of violation of gender norms among children by Blakemore (2003) established that “Boys with feminine hairstyles or clothing were perceived more negatively than girls with masculine hairstyles or clothing; while girls who played in masculine play styles were devalued relative to boys who played in feminine styles” (p. 411). Such perceptions are outcomes of the social constructs of gender that have for long, influence the manner male and female are defined. The perceptions corroborate the assessment that what one wears defines their identity, and identity is founded on political ideologies. Consequently, social movement, class, and gender roles have historically influenced the way people choose to represent themselves. Revolutions have been known to play out by what people wear, with style heralded as a crucial element in affirming or disrupting the status quo (Brillson, 2013).

According to Chrisman-Campbell (2015), children were the major victims of earlier social movements intended to diminish the gender gap. Paoletti (2015) noted that “Baby boomers and Generation Xers tend to have very different memories of the unisex era,” which are founded the difference in fashion during their time. Unisex fashion is a trend founded on progressive intentions, but its outcome is cringe-worthy as evidence through the 1980s stylistic whiplash. The unisex fashion craze of the 60s and 70s was contradicted by scientific evidence that “gender roles were learned and malleable at a young age,” (Chrisman-Campbell, 2015) which created a dilemma for parents who were spoilt between enforcing rigid gender stereotypes on children, and adopting the ungendered approach. Nevertheless, Paoletti (2015) posited that social movements took the unisex fashion to a whole new level; children books and television shows were noted to demonstrated boys cuddling dolls and women tinkering with automobiles. The neutrality message was unmistakable.

Unlike from 1940s, during World War II, when fashion responded to the restrained mood and economy, and military become the most popular clothing trend, the modern society, full of millennials, is driven not by the search for neutrality in gender roles, but by the search for sex identity. The drive for genderless clothing, which refer to clothes designed and worn to appeal to anyone, is gaining momentum due to changing social norms that fail to play into the gender binary that has for long separated men and women. According to Brown (2016), young people support of genderless clothing is testament to the argument that unisex clothing is not just s trend, but a deep shift in fashion that should be treated as a social movement. Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2015) observed that until the 18 th century, fashion was not scarred by gender differences; long decorated costumes were the norm for both sexes.

The construction of masculinity using fashion occurred in 1850 (Flugel, 1930) with the first appearance of men’s clothing. On the contrary, feminization of fashion occurred in the 19 th century when clothing became important in expression of sexual differences rather than social order (Steel, 1989), marking the advent of what came to be known as ‘traditional feminity.’ Since then, women showing revolt against the so called traditional forms of feminity were indicted by the society, whose moralists expressed shock on learning that women earlier wore trousers. According to Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2015), took a world war for women to get rid of their corsets, and another to accept trousers. It was not until 1920s that unisex fashion gained traction as an outcome of efforts by designers such as Coco Channel and Madeleine Vionnet who championed for women to wear trousers, a discourse that few accepted until 1940. One can argue that the recent case, depicting growing support for unisex fashion is a matter of history repeating itself; humanity may be on course to rewind the clock to before the 18 th century when ungendered clothing was the norm for both sexes.

2.2.2 Influence of LGBT Movements

Social constructions of gender are losing significance by the day due to the deconstruction of the phenomenon itself. According to Notaro (2010), the traditional norms of looking at gender through a binary fashion has been contradicted by scientific evidence showing that gender is diverse in nature because it is an outcome of a combination of many biological and social factors. As a result, there has been a corresponding response in the clothing and fashion industry. However, contemporary literature has shied from examining the interaction between the fashion world and queerness in the context of the evolving mainstream conceptions of gender. According to Nichols (2016), “queer style is one of the most fashionable forms of resistance,” and is central to the relationship between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements and unisex fashion. LGBT groups comprise of individuals searching for sexual identity and based on arguments advance in Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2015), Paoletti (2015), and Yangzom (2016), unisex fashion is the best opportunity for civic participation in advancing calls for gender equity.

According to Nichols (2016) designers in the industry are proving that unisex fashion is more than just a trend. This argument is supported by McLean (2011) in their report of the Queer Studies Conference 2011. According to McLean (2011), the organizers of the event chose to focus on ideas, concepts, practices, and aesthetics about fashion from the LGBT perspective. Therefore, the conference was not just a fashion event, but also a platform to showcase identity, performance, and culture, otherwise known as Queerture. The main highlight of the event was that LGBT experience and scope of inquiry are diverse and dynamic and are not restricted by gender, nationality, class, ethnicity, or race. Through queer fashion, stakeholders were able to bring together political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of LGBT. A similar approach has been adopted in revolutionizing unisex fashion.

Methodology

According to Styer (2012), one of the communicative aspects of clothing is the ability to indicate specific gender identity. The renaissance in the scholarship about the history, psychology, formation, and meaning of clothing took place between the late 70s and 80s. However, the communicative role of clothing has existed for centuries, but the current discourse has focused on the creation of unisex clothes that are gender neutral. Understanding this discourse requires critical analysis of fashion images depicting unisex clothes and related literature. Literature review of sources identified using search criteria with “Unisex Fashion/clothing” as the key words is the suitable approach identified for the research.

The scope of the study encompassed both scholarly and non-scholarly literature since the two categories have different perspectives regarding the subject matter. Mainly, the study seeks to capture both traditional and contemporary perspectives regarding unisex fashion as both sources are helpful in covering the topic. Additionally, these alternative views enable unisex style to expand, producing a better and broader understanding of the topic.

Figure 1: Brenda Rodgers, a 15-year old YouTube sensation boy and a model of queer brands for American Apparel (Styer, 2012).

Figure 2: John Weir unisex outfit at the Sochi Olympics (Nichols, 2016).

Figure 3: Models from the Tallory pose outside with the designer’s unisex clothes (Chen & Wu, 2013).

Figure 4: We Are Mortals designer unisex clothes being showcased by models (Khurana, 2017)

Figure 5&6: Thomas Thomas and Sharpe Suiting androgynous designs (Brown, 2016).

4. Discussion

4.1 The Fashion Industry Responds to Ungendered Fashion Market

Gottdiener (1977) cited the royal antics of Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, who wore men’s clothing and argued all women to follow suit by coercing their men to behave and dress like women. According to Gottdiener (1977), such actions are referred to as transvestitism – wearing of clothes designed for the opposite sex. However, the sex gap is diminishing in the modern contemporary society. Unlike in the previous centuries where fashion rebels has to where clothes of the opposite sex to pass across the intended message, the 21 st century has witnessed a whole new revolution with designers aiding social movements towards unisex fashion. Unisex designs are increasingly being applied on menswear (Chen & Wu, 2013) and women wear (Brown, 2016), thanks to the changing gender roles.

The drivers of fashion industry towards the adoption unisex fashion include political, social, economic, and cultural factors. For instance Khurana (2017) argued that LGBT is an emerging lucrative market with high spending power, but its tastes vary immensely from the normal gendered clothing. Unisex of queer fashion is the preferred choice for this market. However, it is important to recognize that such tastes are motivated by political and social ideologies aimed at blurring the gender gap. Khurana (2017) argued that businesses have the potential to advance the interests of such groups through unisex fashion and influence global viewpoints towards these communities because businesses have been known to change the world. One can argue that fashion brands are not just motivated by profitability, but also by knowledge that unisex fashion is increasingly becoming an acceptable phenomenon in the modern contemporary society, and sustainability through competitiveness can be achieved by advancing the interests of this emerging group of consumers.

4.2 The Case of Zara’s Ungendered Collection

According to Brown (2016), Zara’s release of its “ungendered collection” is not the first instance of a mainstream fashion brand to break gender divides, but a reflection of the discourse that has existed since traditional gender roles started losing significance socially. While the first unisex fashion social movement is traceable to World War II, it laid the foundation for a permanent shift in how men and women dress. The 21 st century is defined by women joining the workforce and taking up positions at the corporate world, a discourse that has not only changed gender roles, but has also transformed fashion forever. At the onset, women who wanted to be taken seriously opted to wear what men wore in the office, marking the rise of ‘pantsuits’ (Brown, 2016). However, Zara’s unisex collection shifts from the evident leanings towards masculinity, hence raising the debate of whether such neutral clothing can be sexy. The argument is based on observation that Zara’s line of unisex clothing comes about as chic, which is biased towards feminity (see figure 7 below).

Figure 7: The chic, grey ungendered clothing offered by Zara (Zara.com. 2015)

However, Cherrington (2016) observed that Zara’s unisex collection is causing unprecedented controversy, especially on social media. Some factions have offered praise the brand for taking such a significant step towards the acceptance of non-binary clothing; while others have criticized the move as a marketing gimmick. The latter’s argument is that Zara joined the ungendered fashion movement that has been gaining relevance for years. The angst expressed by critics of Zara’s unisex collection is based on evidence that the clothes on offer have been in existence as genderless outfits. Critics assert that Zara intention is to further the goals of the movement through unimaginative fashion line –“Ungendered.” Consequently, suggestions have been put forward that Zara should include men’s skirts in its ungendered clothing line to make it more complete. Such calls may be an outcome of the inclusion of skirts and for both men and women on runways shows by brands like Nicopanda and VFILES (Sciacca, 2016). However, unisex fashion can be argued to be an idea whose time has come, and the influence it is likely to have on the society is inevitable. Arvanitidou and Gasouka (2013) and Paoletti (2015) posited that as early as the 19 th century, unisex clothes were opposed, but fashion has been able to transcend such obstacles. One can argue that unisex fashion is no exception, and the adoption of the trend by mainstream designers is evidence that it is here to stay.

Figure 7: Men in unisex skirts (Cherrington, 2016).

5. Conclusion

For centuries social movements have advocated for adoption of fashion styles that bode on gender neutral amidst vehement opposition and dismay reactions from moralists. However, such obstacles have not prevent fashion from dropping masculinization and feminization bestowed upon it through social needs to define gender roles and use clothing as a communicative tool. From the 19 th century, fashion has witnessed a struggle to return to the ungendered clothing of the medieval times. Social movements have been at the forefront towards the adoption of unisex clothing. The predicament of fashion in the 21 st century is defined by the changing perceptions of gender and gender roles, informed by the proliferation in campaigns to undo the social constructions that have for long defined what is masculine and feminine, with clothes serving the communicative role for the same. Nevertheless, unisex fashion continues to exert its influence despite opposition from moralists and other critics. In response, mainstream brand, such as Zara, have picked up the mantle and launched clothing lines that are non-binary. While unisex fashion is motivated by business instincts to serve the emerging market of queer dressers, one can argue that the changes in traditional perceptions and gender roles have been on the rise since inception, a trend that is unlikely to reverse, and the same can be said of unisex fashion.

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