gigi hadid and zayn malik vogue

Gender fluidity has become a hot trend in the fashion world but critics were not happy with Vogue's recent take on the subject. The US fashion magazine shared a photo of its August cover featuring Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik with an accompanying story suggesting that the couple were gender-fluid because they liked to swap clothes.

The article, written by Maya Singer, spoke of a "new generation embracing gender fluidity," and took a look back at the couple's history and their "blasé attitude toward gender codes" because they liked to share wardrobes.

Critics were not very welcoming of the take on the gender identity description and slammed the magazine for making light of an important issue. "Think Vogue is a bit confused on what gender fluidity is! Wearing your gf's T-shirt does not make you gender fluid," one Twitter user posted in response to the cover photo.

Others pointed out that the Hadid and Malik never made mention of gender fluidity" and simply spoke about wearing each other's clothes. "All Z & G say is that they borrow each other's clothes. Such a big jump for the mag to declare gender fluidity," another social media user commented.

Vogue was quick to respond to the internet's censure and released a statement apologising for the any misconstrued ideas that may have come through.

"The story was intended to highlight the impact the gender-fluid, non-binary communities have had on fashion and culture," it said according to Buzzfeed. "We are very sorry the story did not correctly reflect that spirit — we missed the mark. We do look forward to continuing the conversation with greater sensitivity."

Neither Hadid nor Zayn has responded to the issue as of yet.