Blurring the lines of his, her clothes

The idea of being genderless is raging in the fashion world, as is seen in a show in Paris for H&M. [Photo provided to China Daily]

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania－What's the difference between men's and women's clothing? These days, the lines are blurred.

On runways around the world, designers are shaking up long-held societal and sartorial views of who should wear what. Take luxury designer Thom Browne. For his spring/summer 2018 men's collection, Browne re-envisioned the traditional men's suit with high and low skirts.

"It's about being open-minded to experience life the way you want it," the designer says.

Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele has infused his collections with pieces for men and women that are a hodgepodge of colors, textures, prints, fits and refreshed silhouettes. The message: Beauty is beauty－regardless of gender.

Some mall brands and fast-fashion stores have joined the gender-fluid conversation.

This spring, Swedish retailer H&M released a 19-piece unisex denim line made with organic and recycled cottons. At HM.com, hoodies, simple shirts, frayed shorts and more are pictured on both a male and female model and sized XS through L.

Last year, Spanish clothing retailer Zara rolled out a 16-item gender-neutral collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, denim basics and Bermuda shorts called Ungendered.

In 2015, Target announced that it would begin phasing out gender-based signage for toys, bedding and other departments. It kept them for size-related items like clothing but aims to offer balanced options for both genders.

In June, Arizona State University professor Kate Hinde sparked a Twitter storm when she moved NASA graphic tees from Target's boys department to the girls department and tweeted a photo of it, driving home the message that girls can be scientists, too.

Target responded by saying that it also sells NASA shirts for girls.