You see, fashion may be about what's hot this season, but it's also about representing people. People who buy the clothes and people who wear the clothes, and those people don't all fit into one skinny, white, born-a-certain-way category.
As fashion designer Lazaro Hernandez tells Vogue, "The distinction between man and woman is disappearing, aesthetically at least.... As a designer, you reflect the culture, and this is a big facet of our culture right now."
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Whether it's something as basic as talking about menswear for women or a huge career milestone like Pejic's, it's clear that fashion does not have to have a gender. People have genders, and we dress to suit them, whether we are gay, straight, a cross-dresser, androgynous or transexual.
Image: VOGUE/Patrick Demarchelier
Perhaps the most important quote in the interview is when a NYC artist who is also transexual tells Vogue, "Transgender people don’t have role models within our families, so we look outward. Even if you see just the slightest hint of something that says you exist, you're real — well, it becomes disproportionately important."
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So, my friends, fashion is not just trends and seasons. It's personal, it's validating, it's a reflection of ourselves and our culture, which needs to continue evolving with us. And that responsibility is something many brands still need to learn to take more seriously.
Read the full article here or snag the latest issue of Vogue on newsstands now.
Image: VOGUE/Mikael Jansson