HBA x Telfar: OG’s Of The New Age
In between this final month of 2020, a year to be remembered forever that I’m sure we all kind of want to forget, and the top of the year of 2021, a new year of possibility, but also uncertainty, there is one thing I am sure of and that is that we are going to continue to see more genderless clothing. Genderless clothing has always made appearances in the luxury sector of the industry, here and there, but today we have designers and brands devoted to making genderless clothing and that choose to not label their shopping categories with genders, just silhouettes. I’ve even seen genderless clothing make its way into apparel assortments of lifestyle brands, like Converse. The historic brand recently released a genderless assortment, Converse Shapes, which they describe to be a gender-free collection that allows consumers to wear the pieces any way they want. The line includes classic silhouettes with a twist, and adjustable elements for customers to style the pieces in numerous ways. In my opinion, the best thing about this assortment is that they don’t use traditional sizes (S,M,etc.). Instead, they use dashes to identify the sizes. It ranges from one to four dashes. So in my mind, if you are a little taller, but want to purchase a t-shirt and wear it cropped, you would select one dash. And if you like your hoodies to be oversized, you would select four dashes. I, truly, love everything about this concept. It allows everyone to be who they want to be.
I would say that as a whole, our society is as progressive than it has ever been in reference to allowing people to identify how they choose, and accepting that, regardless of physical appearance. And I think that makes the masses more comfortable to dress the way they truly want and overtly express themselves. For us fashion girls and guys, I’m sure we have all shopped in the department of the opposite gender to find pieces that call our name across the room that we could just not deny. But now, independent designers and brands are responding to the times and saying there will be no formal men’s or women’s section. I, personally, live for it.
For the OG’s, HBA and Telfar, genderless clothing is nothing new to them. Both designers along with their peers have always worn what they wanted to wear and expressed themselves through their style. Clothes are just clothes. There are no genders attached to clothes. Just designer labels and price tags. With queer men at the head of both brands, I think this newly embraced space in the fashion industry is a space for both brands to flourish, and honestly, dominate. Since both designers, Telfar Clemens and Shane Oliver, embody this new space naturally, their voices have the opportunity to shine through and to continue to show the industry what genuine, original design looks like. With their own lives being a source of inspiration and their peers being muses, there are no bounds or limits to the stories these designers could portray. Direct access is an advantage; and the ball is in HBA and Telfar’s court. And I’m sure they are both ready to serve us the realest of the realness.
