In 2000, Zhang Guorong's "Hot Love" concert was unveiled in Hong Kong, which was evaluated by CCTV as: This concert represents the highest level of Chinese concerts from artistic concepts, costumes and props, and no one has surpassed it so far. Zhang Guorong's concert style has also been mentioned: he wears long hair and wears jean Paul Gaultier's own "from angel to devil" costume theme, including shell skirts, sexy see-through shirts, tights... Changed on stage after body.
Zhang Guorong's outfit at the concert
Maybe we don't look at his clothes now, but before that, there has never been a male star in The country, on the stage, there has been this kind of gender-inconspicuous dress. Because of this, his style has been ridiculed by the Hong Kong media, and he is considered to be a "man's wife", "wearing old clothes" and "transvestite". It wasn't until he successfully completed several tours overseas that the media changed their minds about Jean Paul Gaultier's ambiguous designs for men and women.
Harry Styles made a stunning appearance in the U.S. edition of Vogue's closed-end issue, becoming the first male star to appear personally in the magazine.
It's the 21st century, and sexless clothing hasn't been accepted by the public, and you can imagine how "out of date" the concept was when it was first proposed. After all, at the beginning of the emergence of new things, without exception, some people will feel confused and uneasy, and the concept of gender non-differentiation has caused confusion in social cognition at a very basic level, causing disgust and discussion.
David Bowie's album The Man Who Betrayed the World was also controversial because of the long curly hair and long skirt on the album cover.
But "just as medieval society established balance through God and the devil, our society established balance through consumption and its revelation (Baudrillard's Consumer Society"), when people realized that individuals could exist apart from gender, the opposition between "gendered" and "genderless" could no longer disappear. Today, when society is inclusive, the "genderless trend" is sweeping the world.
A$AP Rocky put on a plaid skirt on the cover of GQ, and the man who wore the skirt was still handsome.
Mintel's 2030 Global Consumer Trends report lists "identity, that is, knowing and expressing oneself and one's place in society" as the fifth trend – consumers are moving away from stereotypes of gender, race and race in favor of moving closer to more fluid, self-chosen identities.
Genderless wear
Genderless refers to breaking down traditional stereotypes about two gender identities. This philosophy is reflected in respecting gender mobility, emphasizing individual uniqueness, and embracing diverse social trends. This is not a new topic, but in the face of increasing division and the struggle of different ethnic groups, the concept of respect and inclusion has not lost its value, but has become a theme reiterated by brands.
Attempts at sexlessness between brands
Zickness is one of them, featuring "Minimalism" and "Uni-sex." The two almost complement each other, "minimalism" is a reflection of the concept of advocating a comfortable and simple life, and "sexlessness" is the essence of removing complicated labels to highlight one's own personality. The dual expression of Minimalism & Uni-sex seems to be a transgression of convention and characterization.
Models wear Zickness fashion catwalks
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > a laid-back and delicate attitude</h1>
In 2017, designer Zic founded Zickness in Paris, France as a new independent designer brand. Zickness comes from the founder's name Zic plus the ending of sickness, which can be understood as Something Zic. It also means to take the sickness harmonic, because the creative inspiration will come from some negative emotions or phenomena.
Zickness founder Zic resume business card
Zic, who has lived in France for a long time, is influenced by French fashion culture and injects a French lazy lifestyle and exquisite romantic atmosphere into the brand's DNA. For example, in terms of design, he likes to find clothing inspiration in his daily leisurely and lazy life, and pursues to play with details and deconstruct design to reflect the beauty of clothing fabrics.
Xu Jiaqi wears a zickness "Suits of gentlemen" suit
Zic focuses on seeking inspiration from his laid-back routine and seems to reveal himself to be a barbarian Buddhist. Indeed, his attitude towards life seems to have no clear attitude to speak of, and he eats sweets, raises pets, paints, and even treats the profession of design with "feelings that are not so deep" when he has time. When he chose to work in the design industry, he only considered it from the perspective of career choice, he believed that in all the professions related to creativity, artists are too lonely, craftsmen are too hard, but designers are very suitable for people with strong control.
Zic hand painting
Zic's cat, Lizzy
In terms of design, Zic is also a Buddhist youth. At first, in terms of design concept, he also wanted to do a series of all-black or all-white conceptual works like those cool designers, but when it came to choosing fabrics, he always involuntarily added color, and often some high-profile colors. It is not difficult to see that Zic is more inclined to feel the way it wants in design.
Zhou Shen wears zickness's "Bubbly kimono shirt"
Zic is a person who dares to express his own emotions, and the "laziness" that translates this emotion into the design inspiration of the clothes is extremely real. He never defines the main color of the series, and usually the colors he makes are his favorites in the stage, and this natural design style is fascinating.
Zickness multi-color clothing
But what is interesting is that from the details in the design of the clothes, we can find that those hidden under the loose and lazy are exquisite attitudes.
For example, the 2019AW series, the theme of this season series is "63%" (the degree of energy spent on life), inspired by the designer's personal daily lazy and leisurely living state, exploring the living state of lazy life and exquisite dress. In today's booming lazy economy, we should perhaps look at the "lazy people" around us, who may not be simply lazy, but just tend to spend energy on more valuable things.
Zickness 2019AW
You might think that Zickness is designing to focus on the lazy people, so the customer group it is targeting is the lazy group. But this is not the case, zickness defines the lazy person as a delicate lazy person. They have quality requirements, but they do not deliberately manage, perhaps because they are slightly less confident and do not like flamboyant, eye-catching outfits, in their view, the way of self-expression can be calm and introverted.
Wang Junkai wears zickness's "Rouge coat"
Zickness does not want guests to need to start preparing a dressing plan an hour before going out, but any combination can give the viewer an impression that "this person just got up and grabbed two clothes and went out of the house, but still looks very stylish", and more advocates a "lazy" concept of life: too lazy to show off, too lazy to cater, simplifying complexity, self-personality.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="241" > Zickness fashion label: Uni-sex</h1>
Since 2014, normcore's fashion trend has been like a whirlwind to bring people's aesthetic orientation into a simple and minimalist style of sexual frigidity, and then derived from the "Oversize" (loose and casual oversized style), "boyfriend style" (the style of wearing clothes is very large and ill-fitting, like boyfriend's clothes) and other styles, which are also evolved and upgraded on this basis.
We usually think that normcore's minimalism is in contrast to the gorgeous and complex design of many big names today, but in fact, behind the two seemingly extreme design styles, there is a common keyword Uni-sex (sexless).
Models wear Zickness Normcore-style clothing
The models wore Dior's gorgeous style costumes
The word "Unisex" first appeared in the 1968 New York Times story about "monster shoes." Department store catalogs from this period began to add a new category of "his & her", and the male and female models in the advertisement wore the same style of lace flared pants with buttoned shirts.
"Genderless" is not exactly the same as "neutral", the latter expresses a design style that is in between and has no obvious gender characteristics, and the former has more "hermaphrodites" and "gender conversion" that various designers do not play boring. Here, design elements with obvious gender characteristics are no longer framed in the past gender selection, but are recombined and integrated.
The Italian edition of VOGUE and the May issue of its men's magazine L'UOMO VOGUE join forces to interpret gender-free fashion blockbusters
Uni-sex may be interpreted as a more expressive of the meaning behind it as borderlessism, because its essence is an attitude that breaks down the boundaries of what is inherent. Just as men's fashion is no longer synonymous with cool tide, removing the inherent label and expressing one's own personality and individual proposition outside the framework is the most important appeal of this era.
In Zic's view, gender is just an objective biological distinction, and he does not like to use this criterion to distinguish all "individuals", because this concept cannot describe all "you" and "me". What men's clothing looks like, what women's clothing looks like, the answer that meets the public's psychological expectations is only the product of mindset and historical inheritance.
Zickness 18AW
For example, SSS Shanghai Fashion Week 2020 features the Zickness Spring/Summer 2020 collection themed "Un rêve très fade" theme. This season's Zickness Spring '2020 collection is inspired by designers' observations of the subtle gap between dream utopias and reality.
Zickness Spring/Summer 2020 collection
Zic transforms the entire show into a garden at the big show, with models wearing laurels and light gauze or flowing shirts weaving through the flower beds, butterfly shapes bringing a cool and impactful sense of originality, and models walking on tiptoes in ballet shoes, all of which show the romance and fragility of dreams.
Zickness 2020SS
The suit is simple and structured, the shirt is gorgeous and flowing, the wear is high and full of design, and the elements of rigidity and softness are both contradictory and integrated. Rich colors such as girl pink and sky blue set the pure tone of the series with white; through simple lines, vertical silhouettes, and neat cuts, they highlight the contradiction between toughness and femininity, and interpret the spiritual core of Zickness's "genderlessness".
in Zickness SS20 Summer sky suits
In today's society, we will always judge others by the difference between gender, in the eyes of the public, men's clothing is men's clothing, women's clothing is women's clothing, especially dress as the primary tool for personal external performance, naturally will be associated with gender, but clothing has not always had obvious gender identity. Through meaningful dress, fashion has always been a powerful tool for subverting gender identity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="259" > women's liberation begins with the comfort of dressing</h1>
Clothing as a necessity of life is closely related to everyone, but in addition to different personal characteristics, the stereotype brought about by the two-sex division has a significant embodiment in clothing. Women's clothing was once considered synonymous with gentleness and tranquility, and men's clothing choices were often inseparable from tough and strong masculinity.
As early as the 20th century, the gender gap between men and women was insurmountable. A set of social rules dictates a paradigm between men and women, from outward words and deeds to inner thoughts and thoughts, and any deviation from norms is considered a mistake and a shame. As the most intuitive visual label, dress is given a great gender-distinguishing function. Men wear trousers and women wear skirts, which were once mandatory social conventions by law.
The 19th-century ball shows the strict dress code of European high society
The practice of gender ambiguity begins with breaking the dress code. More and more things are being removed from gender tags, people are able to obey themselves and express themselves more freely, and the social will no longer bully individuality. Before the 1920s, the standard dress of Western women was delicate but cumbersome corsets, with tight waists and long skirts on the floor, and they had no right to wear pants. It wasn't until the invention of the bicycle in the mid-19th century that a number of female rebels wearing pants appeared.
French women at the time also wore corsets
The United States had the first female military doctor to work in pants, Mary Edward Walker, she was a military doctor, wearing pants to facilitate work, but because wearing pants was illegal at the time, Mary was also arrested by the police many times. Eventually, it wasn't until Congress passed special legislation that granted her the privilege of wearing pants when she worked.
Only Mary who wears pants at work
But what really liberated modern women from tight corsets and large skirts was Chanel— the most daring woman of her time to do and wear. In 1923, Chanel was inspired by the Navy uniform, and she designed the Sea Soul shirt and women's wide-leg pants, triggering the "trouser revolution".
Chanel changed her outfit to a riding suit with men's clothes, and she surprised everyone with her pants.
After that, more and more women abandoned the old customary constraints, put on generous pants, rode horses and socialized like men, and led a generation of women's pants fashion. The image of the Chanel girl wearing the iconic pearl necklace, the sea soul shirt and wide-leg pants has also become a classic witness to the self-awakening and innovation of women in that era.
In 1928, Chanel wore sweatshirts and trousers of her own design
In the 1920s, the novel "Girl Boy" by writer Victor Margueritte was published. The heroine of the book, with short hair, a man's dress, free and independent and avant-garde thinking, and a number of partners, became the idol of the pioneer women of that era.
The novel "Girl Boy" is covered
The British female painter Romani Brooks created a self-portrait in 1923, in which Romani is dressed in a suit, his face is painted with grease powder, and his eyes are hidden in the shadows cast by the brim of his hat, full of avant-garde feeling.
Left: Self-Portrait, right: Romani Brooks
During the Second World War, the social division of labor underwent major changes, and "men went to the battlefield and women entered the factories" became a typical social picture of the major war countries, and the value of women was excavated as never before, and the status of women also rose. The work of working women has further eliminated the heavy skirts, and the pants have been more widely popularized, and the wearing of pants is no longer the conceptual expression of the pioneer women of high society, but the production needs of the majority of working women.
Rossi Riveter – synonymous with working women
American female workers maintain decks
In 1960, the concept of genderlessness was first proposed. Since then, the popularity of denim and overalls has narrowed the gap between what men and women wear. Five years later, women's pants production had finally surpassed skirts, which meant that women's pants had become the norm. The avant-garde significance of trousers as a symbol of the gender revolution has been dissolved by its everydayness and completed its mission.
Three trouser suits in [The Philadelphia Story].
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="268" > when men wear red</h1>
The modern British writer Virginia Woolf wrote in the literary novel Orlando that "great souls are hermaphrodites." Women can finally wear "men's pants", so can men wear gorgeous clothes?
"The Pioneer of Twentieth Century Modernism and Feminism" – Virginia Woolf
In 1967, british designer Hardy Amis proposed the concept of the "Peacock Revolution" (in nature, male peacocks are more gorgeous than females, and the Peacock Revolution uses this to represent the ornate style of male dress), advocating the liberation of men from traditional gender stereotypes starting from clothing.
Peacock Revolution Propaganda Poster (1967)
Before the 1960s, men's clothing was mostly gray-black tough suits, and there was a lack of variation in style and color, which served as a label with strong gender color, binding the male self to the paradigm. The followers of the "Peacock Revolution" believe that men also have the right to express themselves with clothing, and that men's clothing should be individual and pluralistic.
The standard attire of modern men's clothing before the 60s: triangle set + top hat + civilization staff The standard outfit of modern men's clothing before the 60s: triangle set + top hat + civilization staff
Under the influence of the "Peacock Revolution" trend, men's wardrobes have gradually become richer, and a variety of colors and fabrics that once belonged only to women are now widely used in the manufacture of men's clothing. The "Peacock Revolution" became a landmark event in the history of male dress, which influenced a generation's interpretation and exploration of self, prompted men to begin to rebel against society's gender expectations for themselves, and expanded the definition of masculinity in Western society.
The cover of The Face magazine in 1993, influenced by the Peacock Revolution
After the 1970s, genderlessness and neo-romanticism appeared, and the feminization of men began to emerge, and the icon with epoch-making significance was David Bowie. In 1972, he shaved his eyebrows, put on eyeshadow, put on a brilliant lipstick, stepped on high heels, put on a tights, and incarnated as a neutral Ziggy Stardust from Mars. He played psychedelic music and ushered in the era of glam rock, and the influence of Ziggy Stardust's image on the fashion world continues to this day.
David Bowie incarnates as Ziggy Stardust, a neutral man from Mars
Nowadays, with the development of a series of gender equality movements, we can clearly feel the liberation of gender concepts, and this trend is particularly significant in the fashion field.
American fashion designer Thom Browne let the male model wear a delicately cut skirt and step on the tough high-heeled leather shoes. Even the concept of hermaphrodite was materialized, and the wedding dress and suit were skillfully stitched together.
Front suit, reverse wedding dress, is this the rhythm of marrying yourself?
Artist Jamie Vesta works on illustrations that liberate gender roles. Her illustrations are filled with witty satires about gender labels. Through the substitution of gender roles, the artist attempts to convey a future vision that is undifferentiated and untethered by gender.
Jamie Vesta's illustrations are filled with satire on the mechanisms of gender power
Nowadays, genderless consciousness is gradually entering the hearts of the people, behind which is the pursuit of "no boundaries" in our time. The boundaries and chasms that were once considered insurmountable are waiting to be broken, so as to establish a freer and more appropriate discourse system of the times.
Actor Billy Porter at the 2019 Academy Awards
Gender, indisputably, has framed thousands of years of patriarchal culture. In terms of line and clothing, they have become symbols of gender norms implicit in this set of power logic. Simone de Beauvoir said in The Second Sex: "Women are not born feminine, but are given the role of women by society." "If we follow the same logic, then men are not born male, but society gives them the role of male.
Sartre and Beauvoir
Expressing one's own personality and individual claims outside the framework is the most important demand of this era. Both men and women consciously or unconsciously bear stylized gender expectations under strict gender regulations. Under the banner of non-gender, people can express themselves more "morally freely".
In 1999, Brad Pitt performed the rolling stone magazine cover film
When girls are handsome, there is nothing for boys to do
We may still live for a long time in a world that implements the logic of patriarchal culture, and for us, sexlessness focuses on the enlightenment of ideas, calling on us to shed the shackles of the superego and explore the true expression of the self and the self.