LANDEROS NEW YORK Fall 2020

The gender fluidity revolution is expanding. From international fashion brands such as Palomo Spain, Rick Owens, and Hakan Akkaya to more homegrown brands like The Blonds, Kenneth Nicholson, Olivia Oblanc, and Official Rebrand, the gender fluidity movement is fashion is breaking new ground and give space to redefine gender.

Launched in 2013, NYC-based fashion brand LANDEROS New York, as the name implies, fuses a New York City street aesthetic with a design perspective that arises out of creative director Andre Landeros Michel’s love for music from a variety of musical genres—punk, goth, new wave, industrial—seen through the lens of gender neutral dressing. This design aesthetic is expressed through exaggerated silhouettes and nonconventional materials.

From LANDEROS New York’s fall 2020 collection, Andre Landeros Michel demonstrated his acuity with outerwear and nonconventional fabrics. And though this collection did not possess a lot of bold color, Michel made up for that lack with fabrications that glistened and sparkled. The color palette ranged from plums and oxblood to charcoal and silver.

Entitled “Night Transmissions” this collection is for that urban warrior is not afraid to be noticed as they traverse from glamorous speakeasys to other nightlife hotspots. Interestingly, the entire collection is made from sustainable materials.

What stood up most in this fall 2020 collection was the gender neutrality of the garments. That said, the gender fluidity of the collection in no way minimized the glamor and fabulousness of the collection. This collection is not for the mild-mannered consumer. Michel designs for that consumer who expresses their love of individuality through their clothes.

“I have friends in the LGBTQ community and Cis and Non-binary friends that segregation didn’t make sense for us to do a collection that served specifically for men or women. LANDEROS New York goes on record to say that we do one collection. If you want to call it genderless, if you want to call it non-binary, we welcome all those terms, but we do one collection and we open it to everyone,” said Michel.

And LANDEROS NEW YORK open-door policy works best for that consumer who is not afraid to put it out there; in whatever way they define themselves. After all, gender expression is an individual definition. Why not celebrate the range of that realization?

—William S. Gooch