The Appeal of Androgyny in Fashion
Xie Qian Qian — founder and designer of local menswear and unisex label, GRAYE — poses among the brand’s past collections at their studio in Joo Chiat.
As of February 2021, one of the world’s most eminent fashion events, London Fashion Week, will become genderless and seasonless. This cements a milestone in the wave of gender neutrality that has been sweeping through the fashion industry for years now — one that has also been dubbed ground-breaking for a new era of self-expressionist freedom it has both embraced and empowered.
These shifts in the fashion industry are made even more significant if we consider that it has been intensely segregated across gender lines for a long time, which raises the question: What motivates designers to diverge from the usual and approach androgyny in their clothes?
For insight, we sought out one of our homegrown talents, Xie Qian Qian, who has made a name for herself as the woman behind menswear and unisex label, GRAYE. The brand has earned a legion of fans — Boutiques shoppers included — for their androgynous, minimally-designed, and sustainably-produced pieces that meld eastern and western fashion elements. Think oversized t-shirts, mandarin collars, relaxed balloon trousers, and breezy outerwear inspired by traditional Japanese garments. It’s a covetable yet ambiguous aesthetic that nearly their entire team dons when we visited Qian at GRAYE’s studio.
Qian shows us some of GRAYE’s best-selling pieces. She notes that the brand’s range of lightweight outerwear, which she had on herself, have been equally popular among both men and women customers.
Melding eastern and western influences is also key element of GRAYE’s designs. This shirt from GRAYE’s latest capsule collection features a detachable and modifiable front placket with two rows of buttons, which is reminiscent of Chinese jacket called ‘tangzhuang’ or tang suit.
According to Qian, this ambiguity is liberating for her creative process. “It allows me to think beyond gender,” she tells us. “I love the freedom of being able to design without restrictions. Instead, I can focus more on design ideation and details. For example, if I was inspired from an element that is usually seen in womenswear, I would be interested to further develop the designs with a touch of masculinity by executing it with menswear techniques. When we design with such versatility in mind, we tend to explore more functional and transformative designs.”
Inclusivity and an astute recognition of the role of fashion in self-expression has also been significant to Qian and the evolution of GRAYE’s style towards androgyny. The label had initially begun in 2016 as a menswear brand, a focus that stemmed from Qian’s fascination with the technical beauty of men’s clothing, which she found to be “more rooted in reality”.
One of Qian’s technical drawings. She tells us that finding a balance among “femininity and masculinity, aesthetic and functionality” is both enjoyable and challenging when it comes to designing GRAYE’s pieces.
Earthy tones dominate GRAYE’s collection and have become a recognisable element of the brand’s style. They also tend to be more versatile colours that flatter most. Here, Qian shows us some colour swatches among her old design sketches.
“Designing menswear allows me to constantly go back to the fundamentals of the design process. It challenges me to think about the technical, practical, and functional nature of the designed garment. There is no huge concept or particularly avant-garde silhouettes; it is real knowledge and experience from everyday life.”
However, the gradual expansion of GRAYE’s customer base, be it to women or those who preferred gender neutral styles, encouraged Qian to blur even more traditional divisions in her designs.
“Even though we started out making clothes for men, women were soon drawn to our designs, and we saw the value in creating a wardrobe that could be shared by both. It doesn’t take much to realise that clothing is essential to our daily lives, and people are looking for more than just style as they increasingly prioritise wearability. At GRAYE, we celebrate simplicity and innovative garment constructions with a focus on comfort and hyper-functionality, which we realised is something that can speak to everyone regardless of gender. Fashion has also become a powerful medium for self-expression, and no one should feel excluded. Introducing unisex fashion and diversifying our product range is definitely a way of showing our support for gender inclusivity and neutrality as well.”
Qian dressing a member of our team impromptu in a GRAYE ensemble.
Shop the look! Browse the Shōto Linen Baseball Top in Steel Blue and more on GRAYE’s official online shop. Image courtesy of GRAYE.
At the end, we can’t help but marvel at GRAYE as a brand ahead of its time when Qian explains, with remarkable foresight, why timelessness usually goes hand-in-hand with gender neutrality too — something that has now been realised by London Fashion Week.
“Indeed, people of all genders are starting to realise that there are different ways of expressing themselves. As people’s perception of clothing changes, they are bolder with their fashion choices, opting for the genderless. But androgynous fashion tends to be seasonless as well, and without having to conform to trends, items will have a longer shelf life. As sustainability continues to be a major topic in the fashion industry, it seems like androgynous fashion will be a more popular option going forward.”
In their commitment to more sustainable practices, GRAYE has begun shifting manual prototyping of clothing pieces to digital design techniques.
To reduce wastage, the brand also repurposes surplus fabrics. Seasonal offcuts, for instant, are upcycled into accessories like this multi-way sling bag that is wholly handsewn in-house at their studio.
Stark Kimono Coat
This hyper-functional, kimono-inspired jacket features a detachable strap that can also be easily adjusted to alter the shape of the front closure.
Soft Tailored Pants in Camel
Wear this ultra-comfortable pants with an oversized tee or a relaxed button-down shirt.
By SERENE GOH of Public Culture, an editorial experience studio that believes in connection over communication. This feature was photographed by Christopher Wong for Boutique Fairs Singapore.