Beyond the Binary

Abstract

After his appointment in 2015 as creative director at Gucci, Alessandro Michele broke with the brand's look of sleek sophistication and introduced an eccentric, maximalist, and ultimately queer approach to fashion. Taking the campaign as a case study, the article aims to investigate the shifting norms of masculinities in Michele's designs. Following a visual cultural analysis as proposed by Martin Lister and Liz Wells, this article aims to consider Gucci's Spring/Summer 2016 campaign in a cultural and societal context. Focusing on the transgressive potential of gender-fluid fashion, the article draws on a theoretical framework deriving from queer theory and gender studies. The article interrogates how masculinities are constituted and renegotiated in contemporary Western culture and highlights the relevance of fashion in constituting and tackling issues of masculinity in contemporary times of change.