Work It! : exploring gender-issues through extreme contrasts

The purpose of this study is to explore gender-issues by the means of extreme contrasts in functionality. The motivation behind the work comes from the structural objectification of women that is maintained through fashion and social media, and how this is an issue that mainly regards women. By morphing extreme contrasts in dress, by the means of male coded work wear, and female coded shape wear, this work explores gender related norms, ideals and statuses. Through this work, shape was decided through try-outs with garments and/or their components, with a research that was based on today’s ideals, and social media trends. Lines in garments became increasingly more important during the process, and the components of garments in the different categories too. In the result the importance of colour, material and shape regarding gender-issues in dress is highlighted, since they often convey a gender coded expression. To disrupt this inherit gender, the result demonstrates how these components can be mixed. Breaking down status in gender attributes could be used to create a more equal sphere in fashion