Fashion
Who Wore Androgyny Best?
Text by Tanisha Choudhury
Androgyny may be the current buzzword, but is hardly a recent trend. Male models appearing at women’s fashion weeks and vice versa are no longer newsworthy but a common occurrence. However, the freedom with which designers, brands, campaigns and stars on the red-carpet are blurring the boundaries of gender is truly dramatic, leading to some trendsetting moments in fashion.
When talking about those who wore androgyny best, mention must always be made of the eternal ‘babe’ Annie Hall played by Diane Keaton, who made borrowing men’s shirts, vests, ties and slouchy suits cool in the 70s. Plenty of designers have always been creating gender fluid clothes. With the rising popularity of brands like Hood by Air, Alexander Wang and Fenty x Puma, androgynous sweats and other streetwear staples have also become mainstream.
Fashion’s current reigning designer, responsible for the mini-revolution started at Gucci, Alessandro Michele explains the rising omniscience of this trend. ‘If you walk down a street in any town or city in the world today you realise there’s a kind of marvelous anarchy that characterises young people, actually people of all ages. My collections reflect something that is happening around us: a strong affirmation of freedom beyond what’s already established, beyond cataloging, beyond labeling.’
(Click on any image to view in larger gallery and see our notes.)
Tom Hiddleston for Gucci
One of Alessandro Michele’s signatures is a proud display of dapper, almost fey masculinity. Tom Hiddleston, in the Gucci Cruise 2017 men’s tailoring ad campaign channeled his inner dandy and came out looking dashing.
Verve's sherwani shoot
In the October 2016 issue, Verve showed you 7 ways to transform the sherwani, a menswear staple, into a stylish overcoat for women.
(Velvet embroidered sherwani, by Rohit Bal, New Delhi. Off-white knit top, from Dior; embroidered denim skirt, by Monisha Jaising; metal rings, by Nitya Arora, for Valliyan; patent leather pumps, by Christian Louboutin. All in Mumbai. Phtographed by Vijit Gupta. Styling by Shweta Navandar. )
Ajay Kumar
Not one to shy away from clashing florals or prints, Ajay Kumar creates psychedelic, colourful suits that look just as good on women as they do on men.
Burberry
Burberry’s Fall 2016 show was the first co-ed catwalk for the house. Christopher Bailey stepped up the gender blurring by creating blush pink suits and ruffle-collared shirts for men and military-style jackets for women.
Ashish n Soni
Their LFW SS17 show had tailored tuxedo suits for women and A-line kurtas and jacquard jackets for men.
Alexa Chung
This British ‘It’ girl wore a glittering Thakoon suit to the MET gala, proving that all black suits needn’t be boring.
Alia Bhatt
The current darling of Bollywood, who is usually known for her cute and preppy style choices, wore a sultry cream pantsuit on Koffee with Karan this season, pairing it with a bold red lip and tousled beach waves.
Céline
Céline’s Resort 2017 campaign shot by Talia Chetrit features the label’s signature cleans lines, and soft, tailored suiting.
Balenciaga
The hot favourite brand had a fittingly stark Fall 2016 campaign shot by Mark Borthwick, featuring one of their signature jackets that works for both sexes.
Cara Delevingne
Among the current crop of young ‘it’ girls and supermodels, Delevingne is the one known for her tough but sexy vibe (and those eyebrows of course), which she channels perfectly in this pantsuit worn with a sheer lace under layer.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron smoldered at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 red carpet in a tuxedo suit from Dior.
Solange Knowles
Solange wears this patent leather suit by radical street wear brand Hood by Air, known for their subversive, almost 'un-gendered' clothing.
DKNY
DKNY’s SS17 collection combines urban streetwear with deconstructed tailoring, while their Resort 17 collection features looks that are slouchy and oversized.
Dries van Noten
Part of what makes Dries van Noten a visionary designer is that even though his men's and women's collections may be shown separately, both borrow elements from the other. A fine case in point, his Fall 2016 collections included heavily embellished jackets and apron-like skirts for men and sleek tuxedo jackets, ties and suits for women.
Dsquared2
Dan and Dean Caten’s fun Fall 16 collection had plenty of kilts, including embellished ones. We love how chic their boys look in the campaign shot by Mert. Alas, we are on board with this.
Eddie Redmayne for Prada
Prada cast Eddie Redmayne in their FW16 menswear campaign where he brought out all the oddball, stylish charm that makes him unique.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson walked the Met Gala red carpet in a gorgeous Calvin Klein outfit made of recycled materials. Equal parts sexy and structured, her outfit showed the world that designer outfits can also be eco-conscious.
Evan Rachel Wood
The 'Westworld' actress recently attended the Critic’s Choice Awards 2016 in a minimal black Altuzarra pantsuit. Keeping the look simple with a delicate choker and a side-swept bob made it all the more powerful.
Givenchy
Givenchy’s Fall 2016 campaign showed supermodels Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk and Lily Aldrige dressed in gold braided officer style blazers.
Gucci
Shot by Glen Luchford in Berlin, Gucci’s SS16 campaign was full of dreamy romance. Gender neutral silhouettes, prints, and vintage inspired pieces are staples of his collections.
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren looks just as stunning in this power suit as she does in the classic gowns she usually wears on the red carpet.
Jared Leto
Even when wearing Gucci, Jared Leto’s recent public appearances have seen an equal number of hits and misses. However, this chunky Gucci sweater, maroon trousers and loafers with socks work together to create a surprisingly charming look.
Jaden Smith
Jaden Smith created waves when Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière decided to put him in a skirt for LV’s SS16 women's wear campaign.
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams walked the Chanel catwalk (or Ritz restaurant as it happened to be) at the House’s recent Pre-Fall 2017 show in a classic monochrome tweed jacket, strings of pearls, and what appeared to be a Chanel yarmulke.
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton’s Pre-fall 2016 collection included Ghesquière’s unique version of a balloon skirted princess dress. For one it was black, and for another, the feminine silhouette was balanced with futuristic touches, black leather gloves and combat style, lace-up chunky boots.
Rajesh Pratap Singh
Rajesh Pratap Singh’s AW 2016 collection had plenty of casual cool suits for women. Showstopper Imaad Shah was styled in a pleated skirt worn over pyjamas.
Ranveer Singh
The actor known for his electric energy routinely makes fashion choices that range from unconventional to daring. We support his sartorial adventures, especially because most times, his attempts at wearing pieces like culottes and skirts and dhotis look this good!
Left to right: Ranveer Singh in Dsquared2 and Rishta by Arjun Saluja
Sayani Gupta
The actress looked retro-chic in an ochre pantsuit by Poco and Jacky. The tousled bob and oxblood lip helped to modernise the look.
Sonam Kapoor
The actress kept her suit game strong through 2016, looking pristine in the all-white Antonio Berardi suit and sultry in the all-black Alberta Ferretti outfit.
Tilda Swinton
The queen of cool, who has almost made a career out of playing androgynous characters, routinely blurs gender boundaries both onscreen and off it. This year she played the Ancient One in Marvel’s 'Doctor Strange' and displayed multiple ways to wear clothes on the red carpet that are stylish without being particularly masculine or feminine.
Suki Waterhouse
The British actress, model and entrepreneur known for her flawless bedhead and girly style seemed just as comfortable in this tuxedo suit and slicked back hair.
Lena Dunham
The actress rocked a J. Crew suit at one of the most formal fashion events, the Met Gala. it was to support her documentary, Suited, which was about a tailoring outfit that creates suits for people outside of the gender binary.
Roberto Cavalli
Tim Walker shot male and female models styled rather similarly, for Roberto Cavalli’s FW16-17 campaign.
Among the others, Marc Jacobs’ Fall 2016 campaign by the legendary music video director Hype Williams starring a motley crew of celebrities creates a bizarre, glittering, leather-spangled, dark and mysterious atmosphere. It is somehow extremely gothic and still campy in the way only Marc Jacobs can be.
Alexander Wang’s irreverent, overtly sexy collections always have elements of grunge, punk, since they are streetwear inspired, naturally loads of androgyny. His Resort 2017 collection is no different.