Can Fashion Help Abolish Gender Norms Altogether?

The accessibility of information online has undoubtedly provided a number of platforms for marginalised people to speak out and construct their own realities. Away from a world in which their voices are often unable to be heard, the power of social media and all that exists as a result of its existence can be credited at least in part for initiating fashion’s recent push towards a more inclusive agenda.

Making the jump from IRL to URL, Dark Matter are the art duo hailing from New York using poetry and performance to dismantle our society enforced gender binaries and restrictions. Their latest project,ctrl/alt/gender (made in collaboration with Ace Hotel) uses the Squarespace platform to combine multiple formats such as poetry, imagery and ‘behind the scenes’ style tidbits, creating an online zine examining the perceived artifice in constructing a gender fluid fashion image, vs the lived experience of those who lie outside of the gender binary.