I don’t think fashion is interested in trans issues. I can’t think of many fashion institutions or artists who have addressed “trans issues” by name, can you? How many openly transpeople are getting major work in the industry—models, designers, photographers? Can you count them on more than one hand? Fashion is having a moment with trans aesthetics, not trans issues.
Trans aesthetics are powerful. People know when they’re looking at something that conflates masculinity and femininity, or blurs the lines in between. Trans aesthetics are also taboo, so historically they’ve been scarce. I don’t want to name names, but even fashion’s most notorious provocateurs have rarely operated outside of a cisgender milieu in terms of casting, collaborations, clothing specifications, etc. Trans aesthetics feel new. Not many have “gone there,” you know? This idea, of course, is ludicrous, as transfolks have been around forever, but I’m happy to see trans aesthetics take root within an industry that thrives on its power to define what or who is beautiful and aspirational.
