Is gender blurring one-way in fashion?

  • This month, Acne Studios unleashed its Fall 2015 womenswear campaign. The ads feature creative director Jonny Johansson’s 12-year-old son, Frasse, in light pink coats, heeled boots, and high-neck blouses. JW Anderson’s menswear collections have featured dresses for boys, and Riccardo Tisci has been a kilts crusader at Givenchy menswear. Male models have adopted traditionally female garb on women’s runways, too while we have gotten used to the idea of women in pantsuits. One's keen to debate that in today’s society it’s more eyeball grabbing to show a male figure in traditionally female attire while women have been wearing pantsuits since YSL's Le Smoking invention in the 70s. Why aren't there women in men’s ads and on men’s runways? And if they are there, they are more as accessories or props. Would a guy buy a menswear offering worn by a woman?

    Designer Kunal Tanna says, "Women have been donning menswear since the 60s. Androgyny was born when YSL's iconic Le Smoking tuxedo came down the runway on a woman with many divas adopting the androgynous allure from there on - Bianca Jagger to Angelina Jolie to even Sonam Kapoor and many more following suit. Not too long ago, we dressed Kajol attending an event wearing our bundi teamed with a shirt. Androgyny, according to me, is women dressing like men, a concept there since the 60s. That gave birth to power dressing. Made a woman feel like a man in a man's world (work culture in corporates)."

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    Designer Payal Khandwala says, "I think it grabs more eyeballs to make men wear women's clothing, a man in a dress is more of a topic of conversation than a woman in a pantsuit. Also, maybe the message, if there is one, is that in a patriarchal world like ours, it's okay for men to be like women. Women in menswear become more about equality than about sensitising."

    Priyanka Gill, Founder & Editor in chief- POPxo.com shares, "I'm not sure I agree. I view fashion as form - and extension - of personal expression. Subversion, gender or otherwise, may be the designer's intent, but the adoption of tropes and trends eventually depends on the wearers! So yay to putting men in women's gear, and women in men's gear - hope to see more of it on the runways... But will personally be very impressed if I could actually see people doing this in real life."

    Designer Sahil Aneja says, "I am glad the new generation is rebellious is terms of the societal norms and are keen to wear what looks best on them and that’s what fashion is all about. Androgyny is quickly diminishing the gender lines but still we can only hear about men opting for this. But yes, it’s true we hardly see women in men’s ads portraying the phenomenon so strongly. I believe it’s just the beginning and we would definitely such creative uprisings featuring women in coming future."

    Designer duo Armaan Aiman seconds that. "Yes, currently the phenomenon of androgyny is at a nascent stage where women are not yet used in such campaigns. In campaigns they only portray the feminine side and particularly for men campaigns, they are used as a material to add the sex quotient. It’s sad but a blunt truth."

    Designer Aartivijay Gupta says, "Men have been extremely safe about their clothing. Less experimental in terms of silhouettes, colours and patterns. Women on the other side go overboard when it comes to fashion. Experimental usually hunting for exclusive new out of the box clothing. So when you see a man in a skirt or any other experimental outfit the eyebrows are raised. On the contrary, a woman wearing complete men's wear is seen as cool. Boyfriend jeans and boyfriend shirts, for example. For some reasons seeing men anywhere closely to women's wear does create quite a stir."

    Designer duo Sana and Sulakshana say, "Ironically, this season some of the biggest labels in the fashion industry such as Givenchy, YSL etc have used quite a number of female models for their Menswear shows. The term androgyny means possessing both gender qualities in terms of appearance. We see female models dress androgynously in both menswear and womenswear shows all the time. Cara Delevingne appeared in a menswear campaign for DKNY in a crisp pantsuit tailored for men. In no way was she just an accessory for the shoot. And like mentioned, male models have been donning dresses for designers like JW Anderson. The point being androgyny exists in both sexes."

    Designer Swatee Singh says, "Fashion has long played with gender stereotypes—from Coco Chanel to Jean Paul Gaultier, who has featured skirts and corsets on men’s runways. Last year label Hood by Air featured models with wigs and unisex leather and laced jackets and skirts and tunics. Karl Lagerfeld and Miuccia Prada have effectively used female models in male clothing shows and vice versa for years, blurring gender boundaries. But gender mixing showed significantly this season with everyone from Coach to Jeremy Scott casting women to walk the runway to show their 2016 spring collections for men."

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