London Fashion Week 2020 will be gender neutral and digital

With the world turned upside down due to COVID-19, many industries have suffered a catastrophic blow, the fashion industry is no different. Many brands are losing millions of dollars as stores around the world remain closed and people seem to no longer focus on material items, but rather on mental and physical well-being. “I think it’s an opportunity for all of us to look at our industry and look at our lives, and rethink our values, and really think about the waste, and the amount of money, and the consumption, and the excess… We really need to rethink what this industry stands for,” says Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, when explaining how the industry will respond to the pandemic.

With London Fashion Week fast approaching, many people assumed it would be canceled. Fortunately, to the delight of fashion lovers everywhere, the British Fashion Council (BFC) announced on Tuesday that the famous event will continue, but with some important changes. This event will take place on a digital platform to allow access from the comfort of home. London Fashion Week is also breaking boundaries by dissolving the menswear category to make it a gender-neutral event.

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Why go gender neutral?

With the fashion industry being forced to make drastic changes in this unprecedented time, the focus must be on creativity and seeing fashion as an art form rather than a luxury. There has also been a massive shift in the design world towards gender neutral clothing as society strives for more inclusivity and not being locked into classic gender norms. “It is essential to look to the future and the opportunity to change, collaborate and innovate. Many of our companies have always embraced London Fashion Week as a platform not only for fashion, but also for its influence on society, identity and culture. The current pandemic has us all thinking more poignantly about the society we live in and how we want to live our lives and build businesses as we navigate through this crisis. We hope the other side of this crisis will be about sustainability, creativity, and a product you appreciate, respect, cherish… Designers will be able to share their stories, and for those who have them, their collections, with a wider global community; we hope that in addition to personal perspectives on this difficult time, there will be This is what British fashion is known for,” said Caroline Rush CBE, Managing Director from BFC.

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What does gender-neutral fashion look like?

The word gender neutral refers to something that is not gender specific and can be for people of any gender. The idea of ​​gender-neutral fashion may seem like a new concept, but in reality, it has been around since the 1960s, however, it was referred to as “unisex”. This type of fashion evolved as women sought to wear less constricting clothing, and it became more common to see women wearing pants. This form of “gender neutral” fashion was not necessarily the gender neutral fashion we see today. Back then, unisex clothing was just a different way of saying “male clothing for females”. While this allowed more freedom in women’s fashion, it did nothing to loosen restrictions on men’s clothing. Also, at the time, there were no clothes that included people who identified as non-binary, genderqueer, or any gender other than male or female. This is where today’s gender neutral fashion differs, now we’re starting to see both masculine and feminine items that can be worn by anyone, it doesn’t matter. through clothing without being limited by conventional gender ideas.

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What does this change mean for the future of fashion?

This event will be the first of many gender-neutral fashion events to come, as the BFC has already announced that London Fashion Week will be non-binary for the next 12 months. Over the past year, there have been more gender-neutral brands than ever before, so it’s likely high fashion events would have gone gender-neutral in the near future, regardless of the pandemic. . Many fashion experts have predicted that gendered clothing will soon be a thing of the past.

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What can I expect from London Fashion Week going digital?

Surprisingly, London won’t be the first to host a digital fashion week. In March, Shanghai held a digital fashion week; however, London will be the first major fashion circuit to make such a drastic transition. Shanghai Fashion Week brought together more than 150 designers and brands broadcasting their shows live for 7 days. While few details have been released on the types of content the June event will involve, it’s speculated that the event will use many formats, including live streams, videos, digital lookbooks, and more. In the age of this pandemic, finding creative ways to stay connected has become crucial, and London Fashion Week will be no exception!

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