Writing by Moia Leighton
Artwork by Chloe Willison
Fashion is all around us. This is something I’ve always believed, a statement I will defend every time. Out of all the art forms, I personally believe fashion is the most important and the most visible. Simply because we spend our entire lives in clothes, design and fashion. And while people tend to see fashion as superficial, something that never goes beyond surface, this is not true. Designers throughout history have used their talents to reflect back on current events, their backgrounds and beliefs. It goes far below the surface, but to those who are uninterested or simply unaware, the fashion industry is a glittery, self involved iceberg. The most common conceptions are above water, but the true beauty of it remains hidden in a sea of ideology and symbolism.
Since I can remember, I’ve been into fashion. I would watch my mom get ready in the morning, and then try her shoes while she wasn’t home. I saw everyday as an option to become a new person via style and clothes. As I grew up, I realized fashion can become a vessel for understanding who you are not only as a person and who you want to be, but what you can contribute to the world. Continuing my interest in the industry, I read magazines, watched fashion shows and documentaries, I lived fashion. But I started to, as many young girls do, fall into the trap of fashion rules. Directions made by the fashion heavy hitters to create an outline for how we should dress, what goes together and how to not fall victim to a fashion faux-pas. For a while, I really thought these were true, that these guidelines were religion and the fashion bible was within the page of Seventeen or Cosmopolitan as they told us what clothes to wear to fit our bodies. Now, thankfully, I know that this is complete bullshit. Yes, you can play on your favorite things about yourself and emphasize those parts, but are they really trying to tell us that because we have a pear shaped body (comparing us to fruit is stupid enough) we cant wear an aline dress? I don’t think so. Fashion is about wearing whatever you want, and feeling good in it. Fashion has no boundaries, that’s the great thing about it! Black and brown can go together, and women shouldn't have to hide their bodies under a miu miu if they are larger than a size 0. Fashion is about being whatever person you want to be. You can tell the world who you are, and who you wanna be through your clothes.
As you scroll through Instagram, you see influencers taking what they thought were limits to their style and beauty, and tearing through those boundaries. One of the most important factors of fluidity is gender, and this topic has never need more hot than it is now. This year’s December Vogue issue, features a British hunk in a dress! And while Harry Styles is definitely not the first man to wear a dress, him being on the cover of Vogue, solo in a dress is a huge nod to where the fashion industry is headed. One huge pioneer of gender fluidity of the fashion world is Harris Reed. After studying at the highly renowned Central Saint Martins, they caught the eye of many a-listers including Solange, Ezra Miller, Gucci’s Alessandro Michele and of course, Harry Styles. Their main goal is to create fluidity in fashion that sees no gender. Harris reports to Vogue, “I fight for the beauty of fluidity. I fight for a more opulent and accepting world. That is really important to me”. Like many things in the world, the future of fashion is with the younger generation. As we continue to go through seasons of fashion weeks and new trends, it is so important to remember the goal of a world where there are no judgements based on what you wear, your size, skin color or what gender you identify as. Not only that, but to also help raise the voices of those who represent that fluidity and minority as much as we can.