Is the future of fashion genderless? We speak to three local fashion designers who are contributing to the gender-neutral narrative in Asia. In the second of a three-part series, tailor and founder of 3Eighth, Sheryl Yeo, shares her mission to give everyone access to a good suit, regardless of their gender or sexuality.
Fashion is reflective of the times. Take the evolution of the business suit and its role in the feminist movement, for example. It wasn’t until the women’s suffrage movement in the 1910s that female leaders donned suits in public—an iconic symbol that marked a new generation of women that rejected traditional gender roles and combated legislation.
(Related: Singapore Fashion Label Depression's Evolution From Streetwear to Gender-Neutral Clothes)
The following decade granted them the right to vote, and simultaneously saw an increased acceptance of suits worn in public—specifically designs featuring the tweed material by fashion icon Gabrielle Chanel—freeing women from the impracticalities of the hobble skirt too.
Safe to say from history, women donning suits is essentially an act of defying gender norms, and Sheryl Yeo, the founder of local custom garment label 3Eighth, is on a mission to grant everyone—regardless of their gender or sexuality—access to a good suit.
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