Harry Styles. We all know the name. He made himself known from the pop 2010s band, One Direction. In 2017 he began his solo career and became eminent in the music industry. Styles has had a very successful solo career. He has dropped two albums, was a co-host of the 2019 Met Gala with Lady Gaga and was the first male ever to pose solo on the cover of Vogue while wearing a dress. 

The media exploded with tweets, comments and posts regarding Styles and one person specifically stood out from everyone else. African American conservative and author Candace Owens had many concerns about Styles posing on the cover of the magazine, tweeting “Bring back manly men.”

Owens received colossal backlash for her comments including from Styles, who dedicated an Instagram and Twitter post directly towards Owens saying “Bring back manly men.” 

Styles posing for the cover of Vogue is revolutionary. It is addressing the issue of gender normality in clothing between men and women. Clothing is viewed with boundaries. There are men’s and women’s sections in stores and catalogs. In the 1960s, the word “unisex” was placed on certain items of clothing, but the term is still not widely used today. The influence of femininity through mens fashion and the rise of influence through social media has created a positive impact to break gender norms for clothes. 

As seen on TikTok, influencer and activist Spencer, who goes by his platform name, Spencewuah, used his 6.8 million follower platform to address the issue of gender norms.  Owens took to social media to criticize one of Spencewuah’s Tiktoks of him wearing a skirt. Spencer responded by posting a photo to Instagram of him wearing a skirt and striking down gender norms in clothes. 

Gender norms in clothing is not an issue that is arising in 2020 it has been for years. Aniya Wolf, student at Bishop McDevitt High School in 2016, wore a suit to prom and was kicked out of her prom. Wolf did identify as a lesbian and did prefer to dress more masculine, but the school said that Wolf wearing a dress was a “clear” violation of dress code. Gender norms in clothing do not just apply to men, they apply to women too. Over the years, it has become more common for women to wear suits to events and this is best seen in everyday life. 

Gender norms in fashion are slowly but maturely being broken. Runway shows have had the most impact on breaking the stereotypes of clothes having a gender. Men and women are more regularly seen in fashion shows wearing the opposite genders silhouettes. Designers such as Balenciaga, Maison Margiela and Moschino are just a few brands who have strongly broken down the barriers of gender norms in their clothes. 

In the fall of 2019, fashion designer Lucioni dressed one of their male models in a woman’s silhouette, wearing a black suit, with white stitching around the edges, walking with confidence down the runway. Fashion in general can be very controversial, but it is time to accept the fact that clothes are genderless. 

Harry Styles is just the beginning of a revolution to break down the barrier of gender norms in fashion. People and fashion are evolving. The fashion industry truly needs to back to incorporate the label “unisex” to create an inclusive environment for women and men.