The Future is Androgynous
African designers are constantly defying outdated trends and breaking stereotypes on gender and culture. Gender-neutral fashion is now dominating runways on the continent and internationally, irrespective of our conservative culture and our strong ideas on femininity and masculinity. Androgyny seeks to look beyond gender norms as it reinvents beliefs on fashion, while still celebrating African culture through their designs and fabrics.
Historically, eurocentric culture dictated that men wore pants and women wore dresses and eventually skirts. So it came as a shock for many of us when Harry Styles graced the cover of Vogue adorning a frilly, blue gown… and of course, the internet went crazy. You would think it was in appreciation of his great taste and excellent choice of colour but alas, no. Many had ideas on how Styles was betraying the greater cause of 18th-century masculinity and ought to have his man card revoked. With great appreciation for this manly advice, he took to social media to thank all with a photo of him clad in a blue suit biting into a banana cheekily captioned “Bring back manly men”. As controversial as his Vogue issue was, it was groundbreaking. A reminder that the gender lines set over hundreds of years are now being blurred and gender is now fluid. Femininity or masculinity is no longer defined by what we wear, but by the person wearing the outfit.
As the lines between
man and woman
continue to be blurred,
the definition of true masculinity and femininity are constantly being reimagined. Long gone are the days when society dictated who should wear skirts or trousers. Many gender-neutral designers, imagine a future where we will be freed from gender-specific clothing. Today, African designers are breaking down the boundaries of exclusion one runway at a time. At the age of 15, Babatunde ‘Papa’ Oyeyemi founded Maxivive, a fashion line that in my opinion is not made for those averse to risk or conformists. He describes gender- fluid clothing as trying new things and moving from the ideology of “this is what it is meant to be.”The brand incorporates both minimalism and androgynous wear.
His pieces defy every rule that was set in the past on manly wear- from bows to fringes and even cinched waists. Gathering inspiration from a 90s documentary that looked at the drag queen subculture in New York, his brand has continued to garner recognition in the Nigerian fashion market. The eccentric brand makes an effort to push boundaries while offering barrier-breaking fashion to adventurous Nigerian men who aren’t afraid to rock bold designs and out-of-the-box silhouettes.
As the limits of what is acceptable in fashion are broken, there are more creative avenues to be explored. With fewer limits, there is no doubt that fashion is about what makes you happy and not what you wear
