MFA Boston Exhibition Explores Relationship Between Fashion and Gender Tracing a Century of Style That Dares to Break the Rules

Gender Bending Fashion Traces a Century of Style That Dares to Break the Rules

This spring, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), opened the first major museum exhibition to examine the long-intertwined relationship between fashion and gender. Gender Bending Fashion (until August 25, 2019) features more than 60 boundary-pushing contemporary designs alongside dozens of 20th-century garments and photographs, illustrating a rich history of individuals disrupting, blurring and seeking to transcend a traditional division between men’s and women’s clothing over the last 100 years.

Among the approximately 50 designers featured in the exhibition are Jean Paul Gaultier, Rudi Gernreich, Rad Hourani, Rei Kawakubo (for Comme des Garçons), Yves Saint Laurent, Alessandro Michele (for Gucci), Rick Owens, Walé Oyéjidé (for Ikiré Jones), Christian Siriano, Alejandro Gómez Palomo and Alessandro Trincone. 

Above, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Yohji Yamamoto, woman’s ensemble, Spring 2007. Gift of Yohji Yamamoto, Inc. Photograph © Monica Feundi

More than simply documenting styles and trends, Gender Bending Fashion also explores how the garments on view can speak broadly to societal shifts across the past century, including changing gender roles; ongoing efforts toward LGBTQIA+ rights and racial equality; and the rise of social media as a powerful tool for self-expression. Throughout the galleries, individual stories of designers and wearers — many of them celebrities, performers and fashion influencers — emerge, touching on issues of gender identity and expression, sexuality, race, class, pop culture, activism, social justice and more. These topics are further explored through the perspectives of local Bostonians, primarily sourced through Instagram, whose experiences are documented in a digital album within the exhibition.