The word of the year is “demure” according to wordy website Dictionary.com, and as well as changing the way we talk, it’s having an impact on the way we dress.
Demure trad wives and suited guys in finance are the role models of 2024 on social media and the runways, ending an era of fashion loudly embracing genderless dressing.
“It was bound to happen, as this traditionally occurs when the industry deems something a ‘trend’,” says non-binary model and presenter Sandy McIntyre. “Although this may be surprising to some, identifying as non-binary/gender-fluid isn’t a trend at all.”
Models in Marc Jacobs womenswear, autumn 2024, and Louis Vuitton menswear, spring 2025.Credit: Getty Images; graphic design Aresna Villanueva
“There are many of us who live and exist within society, so naturally it’s upsetting to see the shift occur.”
For nearly 10 years, luxury brands were dropping gender labels like hot carbohydrates, making the runway and red carpet a fascinating free-for-all.
Men such as Harry Styles, Billy Porter and Brad Pitt wore pearls and skirts, women such as Jenna Lyons and Hannah Einbinder were in slouchy suiting, and the non-binary G-Flip, Emma Corrin and Sam Smith dressed in whatever they wanted.
Department stores in Britain and Finland trumpeted genderless sections, and in 2020 Gucci launched an online shopping destination, MX, that the Italian brand heralded as a celebration of “self-expression in the name of all gender equality”.
Now genderless pop-ups are long gone from department stores, and Gucci’s MX, which was originally intended to update every season, has disappeared, dismissed by representatives as a capsule collection.
Before the most recent ready-to-wear season, trend forecaster Patricia Maeda of Fashion Snoops told Fashion United the new look is a “return to feminine ideals via uber-feminine designs that embrace the notion of domesticity”.
“This modern take on reclaimed femininity offers a fresh narrative for womenswear, updating elements of girlhood [such as bows and bubble skirts] with quotidian pieces that evoke sentimentality.”
To drive the point home, the usually edgy Balenciaga show opened with seven lacy lingerie looks, complete with stockings and garters, while Gucci, Marni, Valentino and Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban at Miu Miu offered further froufrou takes on femininity.
The opening look of Miu Miu spring 2022 and the opening look of Miu Miu spring 2025 at Paris Fashion Week.
At the menswear collections, the once-endangered tie, suits and shirts were pushed at Louis Vuitton, Armani, Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana.
The swing back to fashion silhouettes resembling traditional toilet signs has been accompanied by shrinking body diversity on the runways, seen at the spring 2025 ready-to-wear collections. Things were so bad that inclusive designer Ester Manas put an inflatable elephant on the Paris runway in a show called The Elephant in the Room.
“I appreciate that there can be pressure ‘to get it right’ all the time,” McIntyre says. “With so many things that need to change on the runway, including body and racial diversity, brands and casting directors may feel that excluding minorities is the easiest option. If they don’t do it, then they can’t get it wrong.”
For those with long memories, the shift towards fixed gender roles in fashion is reminiscent of the seismic change in design from the ’70s to the ’80s, when David Bowie ditched the make-up and heels to wear suits, and the fluidity of hippie style gave way to regimented preppy prettiness and yuppies.
That trend followed the rise of the conservative politics of Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States, and the demonising of sexual diversity with the rise of AIDS. Could trad wife and Wall Street dressing be a response to US President-elect Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House and opposition of transgender rights?
“We have swung back in very conservative ways, into more traditional gender stereotypes, so I think it’s going to be interesting to see what world will unfold in the current and forthcoming political climate,” says fashion academic Paola di Trocchio.
“This conversation has been going on for generations, but I think we’re now at a point where there is no turning back with gender exploration. The genie can’t go back into the bottle.
“Alongside a potentially dominant conservative trend other threads of exploration will continue.”
Rather than turning to major brands for validation, McIntyre will continue expressing their identity with labels from the queer community.
“The designers who are getting it right just so happen to be part of the community,” McIntyre says. “They are also the most exciting shows I’ve witnessed at Australian Fashion Week. Nicol & Ford, Youkhana, Gary Bigeni and Erik Yvon all showcase inclusive designs and models that ignite a sense of hope and excitement.
“Minorities are scared during a time when there’s regression in representation. I say that we persist. We’re not going back. Despite facing discrimination online and in the streets for wearing skirts or dresses, I will ensure that my skirts will get louder along with my voice. Clothing isn’t dangerous; being small-minded is.”
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