Why a seperate Grailed womenswear site might be counter-productive
On February 27, luxury streetwear marketplace Grailed announced they are launching a womenswear platform due to popular demand for a women’s resale community. This news awakened my #hypebae consciousness, but I wasn’t as excited to hear about it as some might assume.
Understandably, menswear and womenswear are divided in fashion e-commerce because of sizing differences. One of my issues with Grailed has always been hunting down smaller sizes, especially in shoes since they never allowed listings smaller than US men’s 6. Sellers must list smaller kicks as size 6, and people like me are stuck reading descriptions for the actual size. I was always hoping Grailed would allow more filter flexibility on their main site to combat this issue, as opposed to launching a separate womenswear site.
Streetwear is a particularly androgynous avenue of fashion wherein people buy clothes regardless of whether they are labelled menswear or womenswear. While the same can be said of high fashion as well, streetwear serves as a youth “gateway” fashion subculture that helps people become more experimental with how they dress. People of all gender identities fall into the trap of materialism, however a taste for obnoxious logos can evolve into experimenting with flashy unbranded items or refined yet detailed designer pieces. Loyalty to unique designers like Rick Owens may begin with a purchase of mainstream, wearable pieces like Geobaskets or Pod shorts. Devotees of such designers and brands often pay no mind to whether they purchase men’s or women’s clothing so long as a piece fits them well.
From a marketing perspective, it could be beneficial for Grailed to develop content that is tailored towards a female demographic. Director of marketing Jake Metzger notes their team wants “fashion to be for everyone”, and that women have mentioned an interest in a site like Grailed for them. Founder Arun Gupta reflects on his motivation for starting the site due to a lack of menswear sites, only for his team to branch into womenswear as well.
“What they want is the community feel that Grailed has. Grailed started from the enthusiasts, and I think women are missing that as well, even though there are so many women’s sites,” he explains.
These intentions seem noble, however creating a separate community as opposed to being more inclusive of women in an already thriving group may be counter-productive. On a smaller scale, the minimal activity on the women’s streetwear subreddit compared to the original demonstrates that dividing internet communities is a pointless venture. While members of these groups can sometimes be aggressive towards women who try to participate, allowing women safe spaces to express themselves as brand director Kristen Dempsey encourages shouldn’t necessitate separation.
Although much of the fashion industry is dominated by womenswear, streetwear stands out male-heavy industry. I’m one of a few girls in some of the forums I follow, but people rarely question my presence or menswear buying inquiries. In fact, I get asked “Are you shopping for yourself?” while browsing menswear more often in real life than online. This is not to write off the hostility that exists in some forums, wherein men are resentful of women who get a lot of “thirst likes” or are more harshly critical of their simple outfits. Many members of these communities criticize Grailed’s inflated prices which can be blamed on the site’s fees and popularity. Nonetheless, it remains an integral point of discussion and an important shopping place among streetwear enthusiasts. Although men will still browse the women’s site and vice versa, the addition of a separate platform for womenswear creates the danger of further segregating the community.
Maybe I’m taking this too deep. Or, maybe it’s time for the resale fashion industry to follow the footsteps of designers and stop enforcing the gender binary.
