Fashion Special: Genderless Advertising

Gender, and how different industries are catering to and representing those who don’t fit traditional male/female norms, has become a topic that no forward-thinking brand can afford to ignore. As an obvious outlet for self-expression, the fashion industry in particular plays an important role in this conversation. Fashion film consultant Niccolo Montanari wonders if fashion brands will be willing to take the lead in becoming gender free...

The fashion industry has a well-known appetite for provocative content, with fashion and beauty brands openly embracing or condemning socially uncomfortable topics via their communications. Take Benetton: ever since 1984, the Italian clothing brand has used themes of race, sex and war in its campaigns to shock and outrage, thereby drawing attention to provocative issues. However, the brand has never tackled perception of gender directly – it was always addressed as part of a broader conversation concerning culture, faith and gender.

Though several fashion brands have worked to include a fairer representation of gender identities in their campaigns, so far few have been able to separate the idea of gender from sex and sexual preferences. Diesel, under Nicola Formichetti’s artistic direction, has sought to reflect the realities of the modern world in terms of gender, body types and colour through tongue-in-cheek campaigns largely based on sex and relationships. Whether this will evolve to include a desexualised representation of gender remains to be seen.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in gender-fluid campaigns, featuring the likes of men’s clothing model Casey Legler, who made headlines when she signed to Ford modelling agency – the men’s division. This year, C&A Brazil wooed transgender and gender-fluid communities with its Dia Dos Misturados [Mixed-up Day] campaign. “What matters is to be mixed, feel goosebumps and lose breath. That’s what loving is, getting mixed,” went the tagline to the spot, which featured men and women seamlessly swapping clothes on a whim.

Other brands have gone even further. Both Gucci and Burberry have deemed the menswear/womenswear tradition obsolete by merging their new season collections, while on the high street Zara launched their first Ungendered clothing line – a great step forward in theory, though they came under fire for not practising what they preached, failing to provide unisex changing rooms and delivering a collection that looked more like men’s loungewear. The lesson to be learned? When catering to a new audience, a brand’s values should be reflected across the board – from the design and production of the clothes, to how they are presented, be that in stores, on the runways or in their advertising campaigns.

One company that has been praised by the agender and transgender communities for its 360° approach is UK high-end department store Selfridges, which last year released a fashion film He, She, Me featuring transgender model and actor Hari Nef, to publicise the new Agender concept space. The space, which included gender-neutral pieces from existing ranges as well as five unisex collections, was designed by furniture designer Faye Toogood to help customers feel less restrained by gender-limiting retail areas.

Sportswear giant Nike also celebrated transgender rights in a recent spot by W+K Portland featuring transgender athlete Chris Mosier. Unlimited Courage sees Mosier going through his daily fitness regime with a background voice questioning him as to how he knew he’d be able to compete against other men, to which he replies that he didn’t know, but he persevered regardless. Last year, Stockholm-based fashion brand Acne cast its creative director Jonny Johansson’s 11-year-old son for its A/W womenswear campaign. The brand had been gearing towards androgyny as a response to the younger generation’s new attitude towards fashion, i.e. an increased focus on a garment’s shape and character as opposed to what norms it follows or social approval it seeks. As Johansson explained: “This campaign is not at all about gender, but presenting this new breed that I think [my son] represents.”

The shift towards a wider representation has started to influence the beauty industry as well. Earlier this year the former face of Clairol hair dye made a triumphant comeback. Tracey Norman had been born male and made a successful, though unexpected, career as a female model before her past was uncovered and her career came to a standstill. With Clairol’s recent Color As Real As You Are campaign, Norman has come back as an older, truer and stronger version of herself. In the Real Color Stories film accompanying the campaign, she explains how she is now being accepted for who she is, and was.

With role models such as Nef, Mosier and Norman, the fashion and beauty industries now have a great opportunity to lead the way and move on from obsolete gender notions and marketing techniques to promote and welcome a more positive and all-encompassing attitude.