Fashion’s current ‘It-Girl’ Cara Delevingne made headlines in 2014 for more than her statement brows. By her own admission, Ms Delevingne prefers the company of women and is often snapped in lip-lock with several famous friends, such as Rita Ora and Miley Cyrus. However, a blasé outlook towards critics of her sexuality confirms the cool confidence she is admired for: “People can say what they want, but I’m having a good time”.

So the crux of the matter is the question of whether this is even of unique significance. Should a revelation of someone defying the heteronormative be headline news?

The Fashion World is breaking boundaries. Boyish-figured models are doing more than showing off their lithe bodies. The androgynous look is ever-popular where it may have only previously been a novelty, a niche filled by a select few.

Cara Delevingne is again a prime example, front-and-centre in DKNY’s Spring 2015 Menswear advertorial, fitting in seamlessly amongst the male models. This collection is themed around the ‘real New Yorkers’, with the hashtag #WeAreNYC showcasing a collective ideology – gender is not a differential factor.

Delevingne also showed support for the spectrum of sexualities by uploading a photograph of herself to Instagram wearing a t-shirt from the Self Evident Truths Project, which aims to humanise and conceptualise the mass of faces that identify with sexualities and gender identities that challenge the expected. As Cara assuredly stated herself, “Don’t be scared to be who you are.”

 

Sophie Learman