| | | | | | | | | 2017/05/23 15:34:44 プライベート♪ | | | Three Chicago Designers Making Non-Binary Fashion | |
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Every year, the School of the Art Institute Chicago rolls out a fresh, new lineup of promising fashion talent. These graduates represent both the superficial and sociopolitical future of design, informed by what newcomers find important and therefore implement in their own practice. SAIC students this spring were particularly attuned to gender, investigating how clothing can help dismantle the binary and assert more inclusive, liberated style. Below, meet three breakout designers from SAIC's graduating class, who're each paving the way for non-binary fashion.
image: Missy Dress Prom Dresses
Known for purveying a joyous, exaggerated attitude through her whimsical designs, Natalie Castro's senior collection recalls the most carefree time in every person's life: childhood. "My concept is inspired by the nature of children," Castro says. "Children have unique traits that are unmarred by society's conventions. They are joyful, uninhibited, playful and unassuming."
Titled No Worries, No Rules, Castro's childlike debut exists outside boring learned biases, which we've developed as socialized adults. "Children live by no rules," she says. "A skirt can be [a] jacket, hat or purse to a child. These attributes are too often lost once we start growing up."
Castro's collection captures the spirit of someone wanting to keep their childhood self close, featuring an outrageous color palette, bulbous shapes that resemble kindergarten toys and activewear-inspired silhouettes. "My clothes are for people who are nonconformist, genuine, confident and carefree," Castro says, ushering in an ageless, genderless perspective on fashion.
Born and raised in Shanghai, Oscar Chen questions everything through fashion, specifically analyzing where western culture collides and, at times, aligns with Chinese communist ideologies. His senior collection, titled No Homo, is aptly charged with social commentary, pulling inspiration from dramatic LGBTQ provocateurs, such as Leigh Bowery, and juxtaposing them against traditional masculinity.
See More: Cheap Evening Dresses
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