From Shiloh Jolie-Pitt to Willow Smith and Leah Dou – 6 LGBTQ+ icons setting fashion trends
David Bowie and Grace Jones first probed androgynous looks, but today a new generation of gay, transgender and gender-fluid fashion and beauty icons are defining LGBTQ+ styles
The term “non-binary” has been tossed around quite a bit lately – meaning people who do not necessarily identify as masculine or feminine – but the concept is far from new.
In the 1980s, the word “genderqueer” – which had the same meaning – was used, a term coined by queer zines at the time.
Decades of debate on this issue came to the conclusion that society should not dictate what people should identify as, but, rather, individuals should be the ones to say where they stood. And more and more celebrities are setting the fashion trend for fans to follow.
So what are the rules for non-binary dressing? In the ’70s and ’80s, androgynous pop stars such as David Bowie, Annie Lennox and Grace Jones gave an early answer: gender neutrality, perhaps even rejecting gender.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born female, but at the age of two, she told her parents Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt that she preferred to go by the name John. They have been fully supportive. Encouraged to be herself, the 13 year-old has developed her own, chic, tomboy sense of style.
Jolie-Pitt is often seen wearing a Versace shorts and high-top trainers combo when heading out in Los Angeles.
In Tokyo, Shiloh appeared alongside her mother and sister Zahara at a red-carpet premier showing of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Angelina and Zahara wore dark, flowing gowns. Shiloh, meanwhile, wore a black varsity jacket with gold detailing with dark jeans and trainers. A week earlier at the same event in Los Angeles, she wore a white shirt, black trousers and trainers underneath a black leather jacket.