Surpassing Gender in Fashion
Photo credits, top row: Byroses Creative Director, Robbie Sinclair, Prince album cover for ‘Lovesexy' (1998), Byroses ‘Frederick’ shirt in petrol blue. Middle row: David Bowie album cover for ‘Scary Monsters’ (1980), Byroses ‘Quentin’ shirt in old rose, Prince and The Revolution album cover for ‘Parade’ (1980). Bottom row: Grayson Perry’s book, ‘The Descent of Man’ (2016), Portrait of a Young man of the Chigi Family, Jacob Ferdinand Voet (1639–1689), Oasis album cover for ‘Up in the Sky’ (1994).
‘I had a dream of making clothes that surpass gender and outdated binary constraints. Hearing your messages of support and chatting with you on social media has been a joy. It re-enforces my belief that we should all be the decider of what we wear. When I design clothes, I don’t have “men” or “women” in mind, I design for humans... all of them.’
I want to give a huge thank you for your kind words, beautiful feedback and support from our latest collection: The Dancer, The Poet & The Prince.
As long as I can remember I had a big connection to my feminine energy. As a child I was fascinated by the movement of women’s clothes. The art of dressing up, the time spent on finishing touches was something I never saw in men.
It wasn’t always like this for men. Throughout history we have seen statuesque portraits depicting princes and poets in romantic settings. Swags of silk and frilled lace adorning opulent costumes. Somewhere along the way, the western world removed this aspect of softness from the men’s guise.
Growing up, the 1980’s exposed me to Bowie and Prince and I loved that space; somewhere in between male and female. As I think back I noticed a shift when bands like Oasis came along… lager drinking parka-clad men with prickly, aggressive attitudes.
I love Grayson Perry’s coining of the term; ‘The Default Man’. In some ways, Byroses is a love letter to my younger self. I’m designing the clothes I wish I would have had access to in my adolescent years. Byroses began to take shape at the start of the pandemic and as I began to imagine what the brand would look like my first goal was to create clothes that bring back that lost beauty.
As we stand in 2022, I am excited to read more brands are offering genderless fashion that go beyond the safe space of oversized loungewear and baggy denim. With almost two years living with a pandemic, starved of gatherings and an excuse to dress up, we are ready to stand out, try new things and go beyond the limits of gender.
Robert Sinclair
Creative Director, Byroses