Let’s Hear It For the Boys

I promised myself I would have a balanced number of posts on various arts, and not just hammer fashion to death.  But I just couldn’t resist this one.  So I’m afraid it’s three fashion posts in a row.  At least this one’s for the guys.  (I promise, it’s worth making your way to the end of this post.)

Men’s runway fashion is its own animal, and one that I do not understand under the best of circumstances, but I am absolutely baffled/delighted by Prada’s Fall 2012 Men’s runway show.  Miuccia Prada referred to her show as “a parody of male power”.  Seen in that light, the show is comprehensible and brilliant.  At the end of the day, the goal is to sell clothes. Seen in that light, I’m not sure what to make of the whole performance.

Much of the parody was in the small details – using denim for formal clothes, making what appears to be wool or mohair out of denim, decorating a dress shirt with rows of tiny football helmets, or fashioning white-tie neck gear out of mock turtleneck on a t-shirt.  But there was also parody on a grand level.  The show featured a number of types, of which I’ll address just a few.

First:  The gentleman-of-a-certain age (I don’t believe this was one of Miuccia’s types, but it is one of mine, for I found it striking).  Not to be a nagging feminist or anything, but can you imagine a womenswear show featuring ladies-of-a-certain-age?

Read the rest of this entry »

share this