A maverick is a person who shows independence of thought and action, especially by refusing to adhere to the policies of a group to which he or she "belongs." What's so important about these sorts of people is that they're trailblazers and they set the stage for others to follow. Seeing someone in the spotlight wearing something they're not expecting to in mainstream media will only help lead to normalize this behavior and break down barriers in our sometimes rigidly gendered world.
Jaden Smith, far right, with Sarah Brannon, Rianne Van Rompaey and Jean Campbell in Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2016 campaign. Photograph: Bruce Weber/Luis Vuitton
You may have seen the latest news surrounding Jaden Smith and the SS16 Louis Vuitton Women's Wear Campaign. Jaden has always been one to say "fuck you" to society's expectations especially surrounding fashion -- the internet almost broke when he rocked a dress to prom last year, and let's not even talk about his batman costume that he wore to Kim Kardashian's wedding.
Jaden clearly is paving his own path when it comes to style and expressing himself and Louis Vuitton has taken notice. Gendered clothing along with gender roles are social constructs and it seems that recently more and more people are wanting to defy these limitations and expectations. Jaden isn't the first to break the boundaries surrounding the binary or even the first to model for "the other team."
Erika Linder has made a living as an androgynous model -- in different campaigns modeling exclusively mens or womenswear depending.
Erika Linder for Crocker by JC Jeans Company
Other examples include Elliott Sailors who reinvented herself after a successful supermodel career and reentered the game as a "male model."
photo cred: Mark Elzey
makeup/grooming: Alicia Marie Campbell
There's a growing internet/social media culture of up-and-coming models, many of which live and work within this grey area between "masculine and feminine."
photo by Ari Fitz
Photo by Cory Wade
Last but not least there is the incomparable Andreja Pejic, formerly an androgynous model who has now medically transitioned, making her one of the first big name transgender models in high fashion.
Photo: Tamara Beckwith
There are many many more examples than the ones listed in this very brief post, and you can see this for yourself when you scan any magazine rack nowadays. You'll see women in suits and men femming it up in ways that we rarely saw just a few years ago. Gender is becoming something to play around with rather than simply adhere to.