Trends, by their very nature, grow and fade, and this is never so true as in the fashion industry. For 2015, it wasn’t just ripped jeans and ‘athleisure’ that defined the year’s catwalks and infiltrated the front rows. Fashion over the past year has reflected a wider trend in society that is calling for greater diversity. Of course, the world of fashion has always sparked controversy, challenged expectations and pushed for social change. In the 1920s, Gabrielle Chanel caused a stir with her corsetless, androgynous garments that came to typify the style of the decade’s ‘flappers’. In 1966, it was Yves Saint Laurent confronting gender stereotypes, launching the iconic Le Smoking, the first tuxedo designed for women.
2015 has been no different. Gender remained a hot topic throughout the year, arguably piquing the media’s attention, for better or worse, with the now iconic cover of Vanity Fair that introduced the world to Caitlin Jenner. In fashion, although models such as Andreja Pejjic and Givenchy muse Lea T were already well-known faces in the industry, the transgender community has garnered greater attention over the past year.
Activist, actress and model Hari Nef signed for IMG models, and fashion houses including Hood by Air, Vetements and Meadham Kirchhoff cast models of all gender identities for their catwalks. Elsewhere, Selfridge’s set an example in the world of retail, launching its gender-fluid ‘Agender’ clothing department, urging customers to join them to ‘explore and examine shifting gender boundaries through ground-breaking fashion, music and design collaborations.’
Not before time, these stories in fashion hint at a greater understanding of, and respect for, the transgender and gender non-binary communities, and unlike fashion trends, hopefully their messages will not lose traction in 2016. Indeed, the new year had barely begun when Nicolas Ghesquière unveiled Jaden Smith in Louis Vuitton’s new SS16 Womenswear campaign. While there remain those who still seem to struggle with accepting gender as a fluid concept, the casual way in which Jaden is featured, in a monochrome top and skirt, arguably reflects the lack of black-and-white definitions when it comes to what constitutes ’masculinity’ or ‘femininity’, or whether these concepts matter at all in 2016.
Gender aside, campaigns which vocally tackled issues within the fashion industry made waves over the last 12 months. Model Stefania Ferrario joined the ‘#droptheplus’ movement, which calls for the industry to stop labelling average-sized models as ‘plus size’. Its website argues that ‘a young woman looking at a photo of a perfectly healthy woman with the caption “plus size model” below it, is in danger of believing that her own body is bigger than it should be and not normal.’ With France recently hitting the headlines for introducing more stringent regulations in order to ensure that a model’s BMI is high enough to be considered healthy, it is refreshing that further along the size-spectrum, action is being taken to stamp out the shaming of women’s bodies.
Racial diversity has, likewise, come to the attention of the fashion industry. In July, Amandla Stenberg’s criticism of Kylie Jenner’s cornrows highlighted the issue of cultural appropriation; some brands still use other cultures as inspiration, yet fail to cast non-white models in shows. More positively, Lineisy Montero turned heads after Prada sent her down the catwalk with her natural afro hairstyle, and Rihanna became Dior’s first black spokesperson. Although stats from NYFW 2015 showed that only 28.1% of its runway models were non-white, the figure represented a 4% increase on the previous year, hinting that a shift, albeit a slow one, is finally taking place towards runways and billboards properly reflecting the multicultural make-up of society in 2015.
Some may argue that brands are tapping into these issues as publicity stunts in order to make more money
Some may argue that brands tapping into these issues represents nothing more than publicity stunts, designed to make money. As with any trend, it is also possible that the industry will lose interest, and so instead of continuing to push for change, brands will turn their attentions to something ‘new’ and ‘exciting’ to capture customers’ attentions. Perhaps the small steps made over the past year will be left behind. However, that seems too depressing and cynical an attitude to maintain. And in fact, just days after celebrating the new year – aside from Jaden Smith’s appearance at Louis Vuitton – D&G revealed its new venture: a line of hijabs and abayas. This move not only reflects the huge purchasing power of the Middle Eastern market, but hopefully also that fashion is becoming increasingly aware of the different tastes and needs of its customers.
Trends may indeed come and go, but it already seems that 2016 will continue to see greater diversity, both on and off the catwalk. Unlike a cliché new year’s resolution, let’s hope this lasts.