Fashion and Identity Politics : Breaking Boundaries

Every time you wake up and get dressed for the day you are saying something about yourself to the world. Intentional or not, your outfit is making a statement about how you see yourself or how you want to be seen.

It’s about trans people looking to wear gender affirming outfits or people wanting to dress to honour their heritage and how you can subconsciously tell people things about yourself with your outfit before you even open your mouth.

Fashion is an essential tool for identity politics, it challenges traditional gender norms, promotes body positivity, and celebrates cultural diversity (Iskra Banović, 2023). This article will explore how sexuality, gender and race and identity impact the world of fashion and how we communicate with the world through our clothing.

Fashion has always been essential to marginalised communities—18% of designers are LGBTQ+, 82.7% are women—making it one of the few creative industries where diversity isn’t just tolerated but often embraced. Fashion has always been a key space for marginalised communities to express themselves even though the industry as a whole is still predominantly white (Flybynightgraphics, 2025).

Compared to other industries, the contrast is huge. In tech, only 2–3% of the workforce identifies as LGBTQ+, and just 6% of global CEOs are women (Kiri O'Brien, 2024).

Fashion clearly offers a kind of freedom and visibility that’s harder to find elsewhere. It’s a place where expression is valued over conformity, and where being "different" isn’t just accepted—it’s often the reason you're there in the first place.

The fashion world has clearly created a space that feels safe for prejudiced groups and lets people express themselves in ways that nothing else can quite compare to.

Model and Trans activist Ava Grey stated, “When queer-identifying youth see queer representation on the runway and in media, we become symbols of hope for them, we show them lives that have been able to move past the constant bullying and negative statistics.” (Sanders, 2019). Fashion’s current ‘gender-fluid movement,’ however, owes a lot to the stars who came before.

Freddie Mercury, known for his flamboyant boundary breaking fashion, said, “I have fun with my clothes onstage; it’s not a concert you’re seeing, it’s a fashion show” (Judy, 2022).

The Head of Psychology at the University of Sunderland Rebecca Owens stated when asked about why people may challenge societal gender norms in fashion, “I would think the biggest impact on people choosing to dress in a way that challenges societal gender norms would be dealing with reactions from other people. That may or may not bother someone of course! ....... But if you see something unusual, i.e. something you haven't actually seen very often before, then there is a natural inclination to look.”

Although like Freddie Mercury some people dress to make a statement and grab attention others just argue fashion is fun and they do it because they want to wear whatever.

Kurt Cobain said “I like to wear dresses because they’re comfortable.... There’s nothing more comfortable than that cozy flower pattern… It just feels comfortable, sexy and free wearing a dress. It’s fun.” and he later claimed it was more a matter of personal taste than a feminist statement (Fitzgerald, 2021). This goes to show that gendered fashion doesn’t always have to be political—it can be personal, playful, or just about comfort.

Identity does not just impact the wearers of clothing and witnesses to displays of self-expression, it also greatly influences the designers themselves. Fashion designer and self-proclaimed ‘misfit’ Carmen Oya Viejo explained how her identity influences her work:

“My experience of feeling different has significantly influenced my design philosophy, driving me to create pieces that serve as a channel for self-expression.”

She uses fashion as a tool for exploration, encouraging wearers to discover who they are through what they wear.

Carmen’s whole vibe is about disrupting norms and pushing boundaries. She designs with the goal of getting people to think, to feel, to question.

Her words are a reminder that fashion isn’t just about looking good—it’s about feeling seen, challenging the rules, and letting others do the same.

Despite being one of the more diverse industries, fashion still struggles with closed-mindedness “Almost 90% of people surveyed for ‘the industry’ report said that fashion industry images did not represent a spectrum of different bodies and identities, while 87.5% said they did not feel represented in advertising campaigns, fashion shoots and on the catwalk. The survey also found that 68% had experienced or witnessed discrimination in the fashion industry based on appearance or beliefs, with the largest group saying this was based on body image at 73.4% followed by ethnicity, age, disability, gender and religious expression.” (WALKER, 2021).

Fashion photographer and designer Benson Roberts stated “Fashion loves to flirt with rebellion, but when you live that rebellion, the industry isn’t always as welcoming. I’ve been dismissed as “too niche” or “too political” — code for “too queer” or “too unapologetic.” But honestly, that resistance fuels me. It reminds me why I’m doing this. I once had a buyer tell me that no one wants to wear clothes that make them think too hard. My response? 'Maybe they should.”

Fashion has its flaws—there’s still discrimination, still exclusion, still industries unwilling to truly reflect the people they profit from. But at its heart, fashion has always been about identity. It’s a language, a protest, a celebration, and sometimes even a lifeline. Without identity, fashion wouldn’t exist—it’d just be fabric. And honestly, what’s the point in getting dressed at all if you’re not saying something with it?