Fashion may be responsible for reinforcing traditional gender norms in years past, but that is changing in 2021. It takes one flick through Instagram to realize that we’ve evolved past the dogma of suits for men and corsetry for women. Between images of Billie Eilish kitted out in baggy sneakers, trousers, and hoodies to snapshots of Blake Lively walking the red carpet in boisterous three-piece suits, one thing is clear: the potential for womenswear is so much wider than we originally thought. Silhouettes hyper-focused on the female form have become passé; in today’s world, clothing doesn’t need to be associated with gender at all. That’s what today’s top androgynous fashion brands are championing—and they’re filling our Rolodexes with looks to shout about.
“There has been a huge evolution over the past few years in regards to androgynous fashion,” Randall Bachner, founder and creative director of Marrakshi Life (aka, one of the labels leading the pack on androgynous fashion), tells Editorialist. “There is more global acceptance for individuals to express themselves without shame; a pride and confidence to be you in whatever you wear.”
It’d be remiss to ignore the role that social media has played in fueling this shift—a great equalizer that androgynous style icons like years past (like ’70s-era Grace Jones, for instance) didn’t have the luxury of. Thanks to the efforts of early trailblazers who rejected the “femme” trope, androgynous fashion has finally stepped into the sunlight—becoming more relatable, accessible, and quite commercialized.
