Tokyo is a melting pot of fashion. There are many sorts of styles for the many sorts of people that reside in Tokyo. If you’re the type to be prim, proper, and pretty, Lolita or Mori Kei Fashion may be right for you. But if you’re more of a wild child, then the yamanba might just be the style you’re looking for.
Whoever you are and whatever you like, Japan can say it for you through fashion. These styles are mostly for girls, but recently, a trend has been taking over Tokyo by storm where the line between girls and boys has been disregarded.
This is the genderless kei.
The Image
The genderless kei is a fairly new trend in Japan, starting only during the 2015 Autumn/Winter Tokyo Girls Collection where they had male models walk the runway in women’s clothing. This trend took Tokyo by storm on the streets and on social media, and the genderless kei still walk the runway to this day.
The genderless kei is a style that gets inspiration from both stereotypical male and female fashions in order to achieve a gender-fluid look. It is basically getting the best of both worlds to form a fashion of your own. Most of the genderless kei styles today focus on the side of cuteness or kawaii. The kawaii styling shows that kawaii is all about flashy, pastel colors and wide, child-like eyes.
The only difference is that unlike the kawaii style that caters mostly to women, the genderless kei expanded the world of cuteness to men as well. The typical genderless kei is all about slim figures and a cute face. To achieve that, one must have dewy white skin, flamboyantly-coloured hair, wide-eyed contact lenses, flamboyant nail polish, flashy clothing, and sparkly make-up. Platform shoes are a staple, as well.
Popular genderless kei figures included GENKING, who first gained popularity on Instagram then crossing over to television, and Yohdi Kondo, the male version of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
Idols like him and Toman from XOX show what it means to be part of the genderless kei movement as seen in the video below.
Walking on Blurred Lines
More than being a style, the Genderless Kei is about making a statement.
Oftentimes, the colorful and stereotypical-feminine fashion of the genderless kei is confused with sexuality. However, that is not the case. It’s not about being a girl. Most genderless kei figures are actually straight. Dressing in genderless kei is not a matter of sexuality, rather a celebration of beauty. These people are defining fashion norms set upon men and women to wear what they think look good. It was about dressing how you want.
Still, in a country as traditional as Japan, well-preserved gender norms often led to the discrimination of people such as Toman. However, through social media, the acceptance of such styles are becoming more widespread. People are beginning to see that more than crossing the boundaries of sexuality, it is crossing the boundaries of normality to create their own standard of beauty.
It takes a lot of guts to express yourself in a society ridden with old social norms. The genderless kei is just the starting point of a new generation rising up, unafraid to break barriers and to make a name for themselves.
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