It’s noteworthy that in recent times, gender neutrality in fashion has gone from subversive experimentation to a movement gaining momentum. Where once designers blurring the lines were far and few (think Comme des Garçons’s blanket drapes and exaggerated outfits by Rick Owens), now high-street giants like Levi’s and H&M have launched unisex collections, Alessandro Michele’s Gucci has made co-ed runways the new normal, and at home, Chola by Sohaya Misra deployed a drag queen to open its autumn/winter 2018 show. 

With the new Gen-Z supermodels and It girls giving us a lesson in ungendered dressing, the movement is hardly a movement any longer—it is a lifestyle, a generational shift, and the new normal. The designers who work with the genre and the wearers who proudly front it, fashion is a deeply personal and political act, where no matter the moniker—‘gender bender’, ‘agender’, ‘gender fluid’, ‘gender neutral’—their collections and wardrobes point to the rise of the individual. Here, gender is no longer enough to describe a person.

Casablanca, Paris

Showing as part of the Paris Men’s Week, Casablanca was started by Charaf Tajer, Paris-born Moroccan-descent designer in 2018 as an ode to his parents’ meet-cute in a Moroccan atelier. With its sportswear inclinations, and a taste of the high-life, the label is a mix of luxury and leisure, for which it also shared the winning title of the 2020 LVMH Prize. Naturally then, its gender-neutral holiday shirts find themselves on a Kendall Jenner sipping champagne on a yacht in the Amalfi Coast, or stepping out of a jet plane in Cannes. 

Tommazo Studio, Cyprus

Toumazos Charalambous is the designer and creative director behind gender-fluid brand Tommazo Studio started in 2019, as a positive effect of the designer’s own process of self-discovery. After pursuing short courses in tailoring and pattern cutting from Central Saint Martins, Charalambous brought his penchant for tailoring to oversized menswear pant suits that provide a beautiful contrast when seen on women. Treading down the sustainable path, all garments are made using organic linen and cotton only.

Jaywalking, India

After a lesson in the street styles of cities like New York, London and Singapore, Mumbai-born Jay Jajal launched his own Indian street wear label, Jaywalking in 2019. Hailing from a fashion family of designers and couturiers, Jajal began his brand in an attempt to bring the niche category to the Indian youth. His gender-neutral patchwork pants and pocketed jackets are worked upon by artisans and are seen on both his male and female friends who make up his Instagram campaigns. On the inspiration behind the 18-month-old brand, Jajal says, “What inspired me to start my own label is the freedom that comes with it, the wide range of things that I can do as an artist. From photography, to construction of garments, illustration, design, events, and it’s really endless!”