© Courtesy of Situationist
Fashion
With a majority of the Big Four fashion capitals’ governing bodies opting for co-ed schedules this season, Vogue spoke to the designers behind breakthrough brands Nihl, Maximilian, Act N°1 and Situationist about why they presented mixed-gendered collections
The past few months have had everyone questioning the fashion system. From the Open Letter to the Fashion Industry in May, led by Dries van Noten, which addressed the flaws of the official schedule, to major luxury players including Celine and Gucci opting to only show mix-gendered collections twice a year, it’s apparent that change is finally underway. A further shift was felt when three of the Big Four fashion capitals’ governing bodies opted to show co-ed for the first time for SS21 (New York had New York Men’s Day on 15 September instead, before the rest of the full schedule commenced).
Blurring gender stereotypes has become the way forward — not only is it more inclusive, it’s also less expensive for brands to produce fewer shows, promotes a more sustainable business model and, with reduced travel, it’s hopefully more environmentally friendly, too.
From exploring elegance with sex appeal to embracing tradition and heritage while challenging gender norms, Vogue spoke to four international rising fashion brands about why the future is co-ed.
“Caribbean elegance and sex appeal,” is how Maximilian Davis, 25, describes his label’s aesthetic. The London College of Fashion alumni and Grace Wales Bonner protege made his debut on the SS21 calendar via the support of London’s fashion incubator programme Fashion East. He has since emerged as the breakout star of the season with a photoshoot and film of his ultra-glam and sensuously tailored clothing that brought together some of the brightest names in fashion including stylist Ib Kamara, photographer Rafael Pavarotti and filmmaker Akinola Davies.
© Courtesy of Maximilian Davis
“The starting point was my grandmother’s heritage in Trinidad—her love for music and Carnival pushed me to research the reason behind it. Carnival became a celebration of freedom for [former] slaves in 1834 [after slavery was abolished in the British Caribbean in 1833]. I also took inspiration from my childhood memories of Trinidad in the early 2000s and trends of the time. I wanted to show a Trinidadian ease and elegance, so the fabrications and proportions were very important.”
“I want people to wear my clothes and feel empowered, sexy and elegant. To see a person wearing a garment that is recognised for the opposite sex is sexy to me, I see them with so much confidence. Making garments that are co-ed allows people to wear what they want for themselves. It’s about showing and supporting — not making people feel excluded.”
“Working with my friends, my second family, is super important. The love and passion that went into my lookbook and film shows the love we have for one another. Everyone came together to do what they believe in, and that’s something I want to hold on to.”
“Do what you want, and don’t be afraid to talk about race, gender and sexuality.”
Nihl designer and Parsons School of Fashion assistant professor Neil Grotzinger, 28, explores LGBTQ+ identities within his work. A Parsons MFA graduate and 2018 LVMH Prize semi-finalist, Grotzinger is known for subverting masculine stereotypes, with the ambition of creating, in his words, “a new queer future where fashion can create commentary and empower the wearer.”
© Courtesy of Nihl
“It was inspired by images of hedonistic luxury and excess throughout history. I looked at images of places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City as a reference for extreme indulgence and [combined] them to create my own luxury around queer identities. I wanted each look to represent a unique queer persona.”
“Fashion does not have to be defined by gender and I hope that co-ed fashion weeks will continue to allow for the new wave of non-binary fashion to blossom. This idea should be taken even further beyond fashion week and into retail platforms as well.”
“Fostering a strong creative community is crucial. I work closely with my friend, casting director Joseph Charles Viola. During casting and on the shoot, I get feedback from the models to make sure that they’re comfortable and feel empowered in the clothes. Photographer Slava Mogutin—a queer artist and social instigator who I look up to—shot our lookbook.”
“Being in lockdown gave me a chance to get in touch with my own creativity. It was difficult at first, as I was without a studio and didn’t have a sewing machine at home, but it allowed me to devote time to hand-beading and embroidery.”
“That fashion will begin to deeply embrace the idea that clothing does not have to be gendered and that the grey area between those two ideas [male and female] can be extremely profound.”
Galib Gassanoff, 26, and Luca Lin, 27, launched their brand Act N°1 in 2016 and the following year were selected to be part of the Vogue Talent Corner during Milan Fashion Week. Lin and Gassanoff are of Chinese and Azerbaijani heritage respectively, and are known for collections that feature a multicultural mash-up of prints and textures with deconstructed tailoring.
© Courtesy of ACT N°1
“This season, we stuck to the DNA of the brand, challenging traditional tailoring and dressmaking. Sleeves are ruffled square panels draped on the shoulders with pleats, cut-up shirts are patched on to dresses, and pleated-sleeve dresses are one-size items that embrace and fit any type of body shape. Ancient Chinese printed silks are a constant in our collections.”
“We’ve done them for the past two years—it was a natural decision and we’ve been continuously experimenting with it. When buyers told us that male clients buy our clothes from the women’s floor, it gave us the push to include pieces on men in our shows, but we never called it menswear or separated it into two genders.”
“It’s important to work with people who feel the essence of your aesthetic — it takes time to build a strong creative community. You can collaborate with people who inspire you, even if they have a different vision. We’ve worked with many talented creatives including hairstylist Pierpaolo Lai, film director Roberto Ortu and photographer Andrea Lanno.”
“We totally stopped for two months and communicated only by video calls, but it didn’t work. Our process involves placing materials directly on the body and you just can’t replace that with digital. Production, sampling, and the entire wholesale chain stopped, so the solution was to launch e-commerce and that worked really well.”
“Stop seasonality and the excessive production of too many collections a year.”
Georgian designer Irakli Rusadze, 29, launched the label Situationist at Tbilisi Fashion Week in 2015 and made its debut on the Paris Fashion Week schedule for SS21. The emerging label has made a splash with its slouchy minimalist clothing favoured by the likes of Bella Hadid.
© Courtesy of Situationist
“The pandemic gave us an opportunity to dig deep into our heritage, so we started to consider our surroundings and the people in the city—we were inspired by how different cultures clash. This season is more universal with unisex garments and fabrics, with pieces available in vegan leather.”
“For me, it has always been normal to work on co-ed collections. This season, we worked on more unisex clothing, not just suits or trousers. We wanted to show the diversity through the models and the styling, and believe this is how the fashion industry should work.”
“Not only is it ecologically and environmentally better to do fewer shows, it’s also great to get rid of the labels such as ‘womenswear’ and ‘menswear’.”
“I had a lot of time to think about this collection with no distractions and realised that our country’s heritage is really important—I want to reimagine that in new ways each season. I want to work on many more creative collaborations with amazing people from Georgia.”
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