We’ve all experienced identity blues.

We transgress boundaries in an exquisite ode to the history of ideas and visions coming into life, discovering the form of art that becomes a bulwark for one’s liberation of expression, including a choice within our waking lives; fashion.

Garments possess the power to knit an inextricable implication in the construction and reconstruction of our identity, articulating a metaphor of who we are and hope to become. This contemplation within itself insinuates that fashion, specifically garments, has had an impact on destabilizing one’s identity.

And that is nothing less than the issue of gendering fashion.

We might start questioning ourselves, “what constitutes one’s true selfhood beyond these signifiers?” Considering a time when expressing identification and dis-identification was emerging between long-embedded social constructs.

If we were to trace back to the early 20th century, Madeleine Vionnet; the French “architect of dressmakers” inspired by Picasso’s contemporary art movement, Cubism, created dresses that awakened human beings, a rejection of the Victorian corset and buttons from women’s daily apparel in favor of the bias cut to free women from their bindings.

A 21st century Madame Vionnet is Harry Halim.

Widely known for his reinterpretation of Romanticism-inspired anachronistic garments and loud voluminous designs, Harry is not only the foremost voice of deconstructing gendered fashion in Indonesia, but as a designer, he is an international revolution for blooming into a genderless clothing brand to expand the fluidity of understanding the Self and Other.

“[As] we are changing the direction into a gender-fluid brand, Harry Halim is about […] genderless fashion; empowering. It’s more like an unapologetically genderless group of people,” Harry explained in conjunction with the rebranding of House of Harry Halim (Harry Halim), which granted him multiple opportunities to work with A-list Hollywood celebrities such as Dua Lipa, Cardi B and most recently, Jared Leto.

The new direction of Harry’s label announces the overlapping of identities, translating fashion as an ambivalence that provides inspiration for change, including the interplay between masculinity and femininity.

With 15 indelible years in the fashion industry, Paris is where the brand Harry Halim was birthed.

With an emphasis on his signature twisted takes, bold cutting and sculptural shapes, Harry’s designs are bound to formulate elements of the daring-Other, inner-boldness, mystery for the wearer that embodies his clothing. Although a proponent of constant evolution in arts, sticking to the “same universe” is most paramount for Harry.

This is where his modern twist on the 18th-19th century Romanticism inspiration enters.

Though typically associated with literary figures such as Baudelaire and Goethe who defined Romanticism as the glorification of ideals, hope and sensations reserved for human nature, this is exactly how Harry was able to celebrate the idea of wearing tabooed language.

“Our trousers gown is actually inspired by the 18th-19th century. I loved the idea of trousers looking like a gown at the same time”. Harry reveals his keenness for presenting duality, which again deconstructs the gendering of fashion.

Fascinatingly, poetry also mirrors his inspirations too. “I’ve always looked into poems, [writers] especially like Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley […] how romantically dark [they are] is very inspiring to me […] I think it’s very beautiful,” revealed Harry. “Somehow it’s very realistic, in modern society.”

A fashion change has begun.

Harry’s Seduce&Destroy collection features ensembles of black, neon and pastel, reflecting a sea of volume, fluidity, lightness and even transparency to re-employ the philosophy of empowerment. The fate of the silhouette that used to restrain women historically is now being de-gendered.

Moreover, Seduce&Destroy threads a singular line in Harry’s repertoire, like a novel of chapters titled The Impossible Love, The Fortune, and most recently, the Pagan Poetry collection which Harry revealed to whisper personal sentiments for him.

“It’s actually a part of my love journey,” Harry giggled. “And I can say, House of Harry Halim, besides reflecting this romanticism and dark, mysterious, empowering [aura], it is [also] very poetic.”

Speaking to The Jakarta Post, Harry revealed how the beginning of his journey was tough and revealed issues of conformity. He would receive criticism questioning his decisions to dress male muses in styles typically associated women’s clothing. This was especially heightened when he moved his studio to Jakarta as genderless fashion is not only rare, but still considered taboo in many regions.

“I think it’s also important that we [educate] people to understand that a garment–fashion […] is not about relating to a gender or an entity specifically,” Harry pointed out. “It is more like a form of art, a form of freedom, freedom of expression. A thousand years ago, [men] were already wearing skirts. Even in Indonesia, the [men] are wearing sarong skirts, but compared to right now–with the current situation, it’s becoming something very taboo.”

Fashion then can be reinterpreted as a language to open change, an undoing of gendered-identities.

Especially when perception comes into play within the eyes of the beholder, this makes the idea of the Self vulnerable to the public eye. Like a kind of body art, it blossoms into an evolution of ongoing cultural phenomenon. Our clothing choices present themselves to be living beings with a soul, just like the body.

Harry urges the redefining of masculinity.

“To me, in today’s world, a man who is masculine, is a man who is responsible and who loves, who honors, who dares to express themselves, […] who dares to show his emotions,” said Harry.

Identities should not be one’s doing, but one’s being.

“I think it’s time, and also, it’s time for a brand like Harry Halim to educate them that fashion is for everyone, it’s not labeling, it’s not pointing out [what constitutes a representative of men or women],” he added.

Echoing the words of Marien Brandon, the terminology of a “thing” being romantic was most often reserved for female clothing. However, with Harry Halim contributing toward the movement of undoing gender, we can now easily associate Romanticism with the wardrobe of a man living in his time.

Especially now.

Looking ahead, Harry desires the purpose of his career to be “to inspire the audience to be free, to be who they are, to be free to express themselves and be truthful to themselves, and stick to your heart and be kind.”

The codification of Harry’s brand therefore represents the modernization of fashion for all.

“I hope the Indonesian fashion industry will keep evolving […] I think it’s time to show the world, ‘hey, we also have a brand, we can do good craftsmanship as well like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Gucci, but made in Indonesia!” added Harry.

House of Harry Halim is then a home that reveals a paradoxical sense of what it means to be an individual, its avant-garde twists and re-imagining of Romanticism encourages the fragmentation and dislocation of gendering fashion, hence, erasing the societal constitution of one’s being —Your truth.

And lastly, Harry wants to remind the audience of a recurring theme not only reflected through each and every one of his collections, but throughout our lives: that love will always win. Love should never be anything less than our Self.

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