Last week, low key and under the radar, Céline Dion was arrested. Her crime? Blowing glitter all over newborns and, with her special brand of Dion magic, changing their gendered pink and blue onesies into gender-neutral, fashion-forward rompers. Just kidding, nothing La Dion does is low key.
Also, she wasn’t actually arrested. The plot points above are the gist of her one-and-a-half minute launch ad for CÉLINUNUNU, her new gender-neutral kids’ clothing line. The line ranges from newborn sizes through age 5, and is largely characterized by geometric shapes and a black-and-white color scheme which could register as either unimaginative, or edgy, depending on how much of a Dion fan you are. The designs also have the same tongue-in-cheek, mocking and self-referential humor the singer has become known for in recent years: for instance, a baby’s skull cap is decorated with a pattern of skulls.
Which is why I’m so into this effort, over others’ similar attempts. Gender-neutral kids clothes is not rocket science. It basically boils down, for anyone who can’t afford CÉLINUNUNU’s hefty-ish price tag, to mixing and matching between existing boy’s and girls’ lines. But the thing about CÉLINUNUNU is that it is imbued with the unapologetic uniqueness of its creator. Dion’s personal style, while always chic, is flamboyantly eccentric, sometimes to the point of being bizarre — but it leaves watchers in no doubt that her clothes are a reflection of her own personality. If gender-neutral kids’ clothes is about not boxing kids in to predefined definitions, but rather, allowing them to grow into a gender and a personality on their own terms, it’s difficult to find a better icon.
Now excuse me while I go figure out which niece or nephew to gift the long-sleeve ninja shirt this Christmas (and how to get it copied in my size).