Emma D’Arcy says they’re non-binary ‘regardless’ of how they dress
Emma D’Arcy attends the Los Angeles premiere of “Digger” at Directors’ Village Westwood on September 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill (Getty Images)
Emma D’Arcy has said they are non-binary regardless of what they wear, after once feeling pressure for their clothes to “confirm” their gender identity.
The House of the Dragon star shared the reflections in a new Beauty Papers interview tied to Acne Studios’ Fall/Winter 2026 campaign, where they model a range of looks and accessories.
D’Arcy said: “As a masc-leaning non-binary person, I used to experience a real fragility when it came to the clothes I wore, as if my clothing were a certificate that confirmed and proved my gender.”
They added: “I’m delighted to say that I don’t feel that way anymore. I am what I am regardless of the dressing!”
What did Emma D’Arcy say about clothes and being nonbinary?
In snippets from the campaign video, D’Arcy shifts between masculine and feminine “characters”, changing their movements, facial expressions, and appearance.
D’Arcy said “the freedom afforded by different personas is the drug at the heart of [their] work”, adding that it was fun to play with a mix of masculine and feminine characters during the shoot and let the styling inform their personalities.
The actor, best known for playing Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon, has become one of the most prominent non-binary performers in mainstream TV. They have also become a style reference point for androgynous and gender-nonconforming red-carpet fashion.
In 2023, D’Arcy spoke about why clothes were “essential” for trans and non-binary people in terms of how they identify themselves.
Emma D’Arcy on language and beauty standards
D’Arcy also spoke about the push and pull of labels and self-expression, saying: “I think there’s an ongoing tension between the enfranchisement created by being able to give words to one’s experience, and the limitation and oversimplification caused by the very human desire to categorize.”
They added: “Language is supposed to work for us and not the other way around!”
Asked about beauty in relation to their gender, D’Arcy said “beauty” is not a word they would use about themself, describing conventional beauty standards as a “mechanism of patriarchal control”.
“The more barriers you create to a person leaving the house,” they said, “the more a person feels they have to change or perfect about their appearance in order to participate in the world, the easier you make for those free of that standard to be the first in line for positions of power.”
