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Return of the man
Over the past few fall/winter seasons, guys have turned into
girls. It started innocently with 20-somethings emulating
Paris Hilton’s grotesque fashion habits, like carrying a small
dog everywhere or wearing Uggs in May. Some gay men began
unabashedly and strategically integrating women’s pieces into
their everyday wardrobes. A pair of black Jimmy Choo flats or
Lindsay Lohan-esque sunglasses may make a subtle statement,
but a line was crossed the day I watched a gay man and a straight
woman scrap over a $2,000 YSL purse. He, naturally the victor,
left the store carrying the bag with Victoria Beckham’s signature
bent-arm bag-hook.
This fall, girly men and metrosexuals are in for a shock as the
softer silhouette is about to get a kick in the ass. Fashion is getting
a man injection. Picture yourself morphing into a greased-up,
shirtless, muscle-bear mechanic. The shift began in 2008 when,
as many designers were feminizing men, Vivienne Westwood
courted controversy with her real-man Roma/Gypsy look.
She sent a model with a slight gut, tattoos, rings and slicked hair
strutting down the runway.
Then designers Thom Browne, G-Star and Marc for Marc
Jacobs butched-up, showing jackets of wool and tweed, oversized
sweaters in heavy wool and baggy dress pants. Designers such as
Agnes B decked out models in coveralls. John Bartlett’s new
guy is a bodybuilder bear in down-clad jeans and a velvet
jacket. DSquared roughed up their boys, covering them
with fake blood and dressing them in baggy long-sleeved
shirts emblazoned with bloody hockey-mask emblems. Being a
boy is definitely back.
Commonwealth
Utilities - see images above
While the tent-confined fashion
pack was squirrelled away during New York’s Fashion Week, Andrew
Keegan and Richard Christiansen of Commonwealth Utilities showed
their smokin’ hot Officer and a Gentleman-themed show
at the NoMad Hotel. The audience had a hard time deciding whether
the models or the collection was hotter: sweaters paired with
long johns, a new take on tuxedos, jackets over sweaters and
toques. The collection wowed all and was snapped up by Holt’s. |
Must
sees at LG Fashion Week
Once again LG Fashion Week is mired
in controversy. Tongues are wagging about the new locale, the
second in a month (the Allstream Centre at Exhibition Place,
105 Princes’ Blvd). Also at issue is who will be showing and
who, in protest, won’t. Want to attend?
LG Fashion Week runs
Mon Mar 29–Thu Apr 1.
Consumer passes are $25 per show.
Here are the not-to-be-missed menswear shows:
Tue Mar 30: Zoran Dobric at 4pm
Wed Mar 31: Dimitri Chris at 4pm and Joe Fresh
Style at 9:30pm
Thu Apr 1: Rudsak at 6pm and Bustle at 9pm. |
 Max
MacDonald
style@fabmagazine.com
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