Gender nonconforming model Rain Dove: “It’s profitable to be ethical”

Dove has become known for candid conversations with their 350,000 Instagram followers about what it means to identify as neither male nor female, and now consults with brands on inclusivity efforts. Here, they discuss their role as both fashion model and gender activist and how they evaluate brand partnerships. The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Louis Vuitton has introduced genderless casting, Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty show featured numerous queer models, and Galeries Lafayette’s Champs-Élysées store displays all genders together. What is gender’s role in fashion?

Gender shouldn’t have a role in fashion. If people want to assign rules to their clothing, they should be able to. However, creating prisons for other people isn’t the point. Fashion is supposed to be an extension of our bodies and give us an enhanced ability to tell the world what we want from it. When I open my dresser, I’m opening up a toolbox. Every item is a tool to help me access the world. It’s a statement about my ethics and morals.

How do you evaluate which brands to work with?

I get offered a lot of opportunities, which I’m grateful for. However, I only work with a few brands every year. Every brand who comes to me goes through an extensive interview process. It needs to show that it’s a brand that is evolving and listening. It’s important that the company’s boardroom is as diverse as its billboards, and then if it’s not, that the company wants to work toward that.

Brands are still going to make things. Us being angry and screaming is not going to stop it from creating and exploiting. Showing that it is profitable to be ethical is the best way, I think, to make capitalistic people change their policies.

When you modelled for Zalando Man, some customers were outraged. Are consumers ready for brands to push what people think are boundaries in terms of representation?

There will be people who, no matter what I do — even if I don’t talk about my identity politics, if I just sit there — that in itself is upsetting. But then we ended up sending hundreds of people to those posts. Some people just want to buy their shirts but don’t want to feel like they’re endorsing a lifestyle that they may not agree with. Right now, we need to be pushy like that to make room. As it becomes normal to incorporate different body types and aesthetics in campaigns, we won’t have to be like, “Fuck you, I’m on this billboard.” But until then, models have to be loud, and consumers have to be loud about their approval.