Aesthetics and Symbolic Meaning of Androgynous and CO-ED Style Trends in Men’s Fashion

Authors

  • Dewa Made Weda Githapradana Universitas Ciputra Surabaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21512/humaniora.v13i1.7378

Keywords:

aesthetic meaning, symbolic meaning, co-ed style trend, androgyny trend, men’s fashion

Abstract

The research aimed to understand the aesthetic value and symbolic meaning of the co-ed and androgynous trends in men’s fashion. The problem discussed was how the aesthetic value and symbolic meaning of co-ed androgynous trends were in men’s fashion today. Co-ed and androgyny were one of the phenomena in men’s fashion trends today. The co-ed androgynous style featured a gender-fluid fashion concept; that was, the blurring of the binary gender opposition boundaries. Gender discrimination is a phenomenon of social problems that often surfaced. Fashion was often used as an instrument in reproducing gender identity in social systems. The development of men’s fashion had undergone significant changes in recent decades. Men’s clothing trends had become more attractive, dynamic, and no longer monotonous like conventional men’s fashion styles. The research applied a qualitative research method by collecting library data, observation, and interviews with practitioners and experts. The approach and theoretical basis used in analyzing the objects and variables were postmodern aesthetic approaches and Barthes’ semiotic theory. The object sample was the clothing designed by Alesandro Michele for the Gucci brand. The result indicates that the symbolic meanings of androgynous and co-ed trends are able to reflect social problems, such as reproducing gender identity, overhauling heteronormative stereotypes, changing gender roles, and freedom of expression without discrimination. The concept is expressed through a dynamic and free postmodern aesthetic.

Dimensions

Plum Analytics

References

Akdemir, N. (2018a). Deconstruction of gender stereotypes through fashion. European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 5(2), 185-190. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejser.v5i2.p185-190.

Akdemir, N. (2018b). Visible expression of social identity: The clothing and fashion. Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 17(4), 1371-1379. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.411181.

Bardey, A., Achumba-Wöllenstein, J., & Chiu, P. (2020). Exploring the third gender in fashion: From consumers’ behavior to designers’ approach towards unisex clothing. Fashion Practice, 12(3), 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1080/17569370.2020.1816317.

Barry, B. (2018). (Re)fashioning masculinity: Social identity and context in men’s hybrid masculinities through dress. Gender & Society, 32(5), 638-662. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218774495.

Barry, B., & Drak, D. (2019). Intersectional interventions into queer and trans liberation: Youth resistance against right-wing populism through fashion hacking. Fashion Theory, 23(6), 679-709. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2019.1657260.

Bolognesi, M. (2017). Using semantic feature norms to investigate how the visual and verbal modes afford metaphor construction and expression. Language and Cognition, 9(3), 525-552. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2016.27.

Bolognesi, M., & Vernillo, P. (2019). How abstract concepts emerge from metaphorical images: The metonymic way. Language & Communication, 69, 26-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2019.05.003.

Brain, E. (2020, July 23). Gucci Mx line explores gender fluidity within fashion. Retrieved from https://hypebeast.com/2020/7/gucci-mx-non-binary-gender-fluid-collection-fall-winter-2020-jackie-1961-bag-lookbook.

Budiman, K. (2011). Semiotika visual: Konsep, isu, dan problem ikonisitas. Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.

Chung, S., Yim, E., & Suh, S. (2018). Genderless styles in menswear analyzed through the heterotopia concept. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 42(4), 626-638. https://doi.org/10.5850/JKSCT.2018.42.4.626.

Deeny, G. (2020, April 21). BFC announces plans for co-ed platform, calls off next London Fashion Week Men’s. Retrieved from https://us.fashionnetwork.com/news/Bfc-announces-plans-for-co-ed-platform-calls-off-next-london-fashion-week-men-s,1208934.html.

Di Sandro, N. (2020). Contemporary fashion imaginary, deconstructing gender. ZoneModa Journal, 10(1), 51-64. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0563/11087.

Geczy, A., & Karaminas, V. (2020). Time, cruelty and destruction in deconstructivist fashion: Kawakubo, margiela, and vetements. ZoneModa Journal, 10(1), 65-77. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0563/11088.

Hao, S., & Zi, W. (2019). Research on images of cross-dresser from the perspective of androgyny. Chinese Studies, 8(3), 92-102. https://doi.org/10.4236/chnstd.2019.83008.

Hong, Y. J., & Joo, M. Y. (2020). Study on characteristics off pink color and fashion images used in gender neutral men’s fashion. Journal of Fashion Business (패션비즈니스), 24(5), 52-71. https://doi.org/10.12940/JFB.2020.24.5.52.

Im, M. (2018). Gender-fluid images expressed in the contemporary fashion collections with the theme of feminism. Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association (국의상디자인학회지), 20(3), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.30751/kfcda.2018.20.3.63.

Isıtman, O. (2018). The lord of the postmodernity: Plagiarism. Global Journal of Arts Education, 8(2), 84-90. https://doi.org/10.18844/gjae.v8i2.3798.

Jairath, J., & Daima, R. (2021). Role of pop culture in popularizing gender-bending fashion and ideals of beauty and makeup. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law (IJPSL), 1(3), 1637-1649.

Jordan, P. (2017). Gender fluidity in men’s fashion: From Shakespeare’s modern English to the new millennium. Critical Studies in Men’s Fashions Fashions Fashion, 4(2), 171-184. https://doi.org/10.1386/csmf.4.2.171_1.

Jung, Y., & Lee, Y. (2020). An analysis of gender images of fashion style in BTS music videos using Judith Butler’s performativity theory. Journal of Fashion Business (패션비즈니스), 24(1), 88-101. https://doi.org/10.12940/jfb.2020.24.1.88.

Kessler, A. (2020, October 16). Is the future of fashion co-ed? These 4 rising design talents think so. Retrieved from https://www.vogue.in/fashion/content/is-the-future-of-fashion-co-ed-these-4-rising-design-talents-think-so.

Kim, H. J., & Yim, E. H. (2015). Gender identity expression in contemporary men’s fashion - Focus on Judith Butler’s gender identity theory. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 65(3), 47-61. https://doi.org/10.7233/jksc.2015.65.3.047.

Lascity, M. E. (2020). Masculinities, menswear, and media. In The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. New Jersey: Wiley Online Libarary. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119429128.iegmc311.

Lee, H. R., Kim, J., & Ha, J. (2020). ‘Neo-Crosssexual’ fashion in contemporary men’s suits. Fashion and Textiles, 7(4), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-019-0192-2.

Lee, J. E., & Kwak, T. G. (2020). Study on gender-neutral style in modern fashion. Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association, 22(3), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.30751/kfcda.2020.22.3.111.

Linfante, V. (2020). Fading, mixing, slicing, and looping: The deconstruction of fashion through the creative process of music. ZoneModa Journal, 10(1), 79-99. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0563/11090.

Lundén, E. C. (2020). Exploring fashion as communication: The search for a new fashion history against the grain. Popular Communication, 18(4), 249-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2020.1854952.

McIntyre, M. P. (2018). Gender by design: Performativity and consumer packaging. Design and Culture, 10(3), 337-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2018.1516437.

Pambudi, N. S. H., Haldani, A., & Adhitama, G. P. (2019). Studi preferensi masyarakat Jakarta terhadap genderless fashion. Jurnal Rupa, 4(1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.25124/rupa.v4i1.2249.

Pearson, J. (2020). Smart, casual, unisex: Can we have gender equality in twenty-first century fashion and dress? In Gender Equality in Changing Times (pp. 227-245). New York: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26570-0_11

Phelps, N. (2020, May 25). Gucci’s Alessandro Michele will reduce the brand’s shows from 5 to 2, will the industry follow? Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com/article/gucci-alessandro-michele-reducing-shows-two-per-year.

Reilly, A. (2021). Introducing fashion theory: From androgyny to zeitgeist (2nd Ed.). London: Bloomsburry.

Saha, I., Akanksha., & Basu, D. (2021). Androgynous fashion from the concept to consumers: An empirical study. Design for Tomorrow, 1, 727-737. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0041-8_60.

Sprecher, D. (2019). Fashion parades – for men only: Multiple tailor Hepworths, designer Hardy Amies and the marketing of men’s suits in Britain in the 1960s. Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, 6(1), 161-178. https://doi.org/10.1386/csmf_00010_1.

Stines, S. (2017). Cloning fashion: Uniform gay images in male apparel. Critical Studies in Men’s Fashions Fashion, 4(2), 129-151. https://doi.org/10.1386/csmf.4.2.129_1.

Sumerau, J. E., Mathers, L. A. B., & Moon, D. (2020). Foreclosing fluidity at the intersection of gender and sexual normativities. Symbolic Interaction, 43(2), 205-234. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.431.

Tormakhova, А. M. (2019). Androgyny in the context of current visual fashion space: Philosophical and culturological aspect. Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research, 15, 82-91. https://doi.org/10.15802/ampr.v0i15.168834.

Uno, R., Matsuda, E., & Indurkhya, B. (2019). Analyzing visual metaphor and metonymy to understand creativity in fashion. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02527.

Downloads

Published

2022-02-15

Issue

Section

Articles
Abstract 1195  .
PDF downloaded 1019  .