So celebs like Toman and Genking aren’t just playing along with Japan’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy when they say that the trend doesn’t necessarily imply that the wearer is queer. One of the most influential faces of the trend on social media is Ryucheru , a “kawaii boy” with rosy cheeks, cherubic curls he adorns with a rainbow of '80s sweatbands, and glittery accessories hand-collaged with Lisa Frank stickers. He and his girlfriend Peco-chan are Harajuku’s Kimye, a hetero teen fashion power couple whose kissy-face selfies show up as often on Ryucheru’s Instagram feed as throwback clips from Totally Hair Barbie commercials and Teen Witch. Genking, on the other hand, made waves when he came out as gay on live TV last year. But he’s just as quick to distance his look from his sexuality. “Genderless Kei is about appearance. [Being] transgender is about gender,” he says, implying neither has to do with sexual orientation.It might be this distinction that makes Genderless Kei such an impactful style statement. The words “unisex fashion” inevitably conjure images of drab, shapeless basics, a standard which recent attempts at gender-neutral fashion, such as Zara’s much-maligned Ungendered collection , have mostly failed to rise above. These pieces fall flat because they’ve been scrubbed of their gender signifiers, which might be all that retailers think their markets can handle. (Because if the average American guy actually wore one of those frilly J.W. Anderson skirts, he would almost certainly risk his manhood.) But if that’s not quite the case in Japan, then the opportunities for genderless expression through fashion can be taken to the next level. Genderless Kei doesn’t rely on unisex styling, but playfully seeks to remove the gender labels from traditionally gendered pieces. “Once upon a time a man was a man and a woman was a woman. Now we are free to wear what we want,” says Toman.At the same time, Genderless Kei’s separation from an overt statement about sexuality might actually make it a safe, subtle way to express one's personal politics. The explosion of gender-fluidity in Japanese fashion does seem to reflect a generational desire to shift away from the traditional. Genking idealizes the U.S. as a more open and accepting society. "I think that if Japan could become a country like that, it would be overflowing with even more amazing people!” he says. Naopis points out that even though having a Genderless Kei look doesn’t mean that you’re gay or trans, there are undeniably many identity minority groups represented among the Genderless Kei style tribe. “It’s just that it’s still a difficult thing to easily come out in Japan,” he says. It would be a mistake, then, to dismiss the impact that Genderless Kei’s popularity could have on the social visibility of those who feel oppressed by the country's traditional mores. “To reach an era when, regardless of gender, women and men can enjoy fashion and beauty, means that it’s becoming a more comfortable environment for sexual minorities. That’s a good thing,” he says.