ONCE UPON A TIME, fashion considered that it knew what was beautiful: namely, a body that was young, white, straight, cis, thin, symmetrical, European-looking and stereotypically feminine. At long last, times appear to have changed. Ask “What is beautiful now?” and one receives a fabulous multiplicity of answers, embracing men, women and those who refuse to identify as either. Our new poster people come in myriad guises: black, white, young, old, plus-size, thin, gay, straight, able- and non-able bodied, born into their gender, transitioning, transitioned or evading such distinctions altogether. They may be silver-haired, hawk-nosed, equipped with birthmarks, round bellies and/or artificial limbs. Regardless, they are celebrated for their individuality rather than their epitomising of stereotypes. Until recently, this issue’s ‘Fashion for Everyone’ mantra would have been a radical statement.…
