Samuel Westerberg

Boyfriend Dressing

The collection explores the phenomenon of dressing in your partner’s clothes. With a focus on same-sex relationships and classic men’s fashion, an intimate exchange is shaped through physical garments.

The concept is well known in women’s fashion, for example boyfriend jeans, but has not been presented in men’s fashion yet. In my degree project, the phenomenon of boyfriend dressing is moved to a context where the male body is at the centre.

The exchange of clothes between two men in a relationship usually goes unnoticed as it does not exceed gender codes, so how can the concept be visualised, materialised and ultimately communicated through the garment’s design?

By shifting the wearer’s gender, the obvious markers that shaped the idea disappear and create a space for communicative symbolism. Using references such as; Maja Gunn, Anne Hollander and Helmut Lang, alongside my own experiences, the degree project has taken shape. I have worked associatively with use, sensuality and male codes in order to reformulate the concept into a personally relatable context. A personal, engaging/meaningful context.

Thanks to

Estrid Ericssons Stiftelse 

Samuel Westerberg

Boyfriend Dressing