words
Evie Batts
where
is
fashion
now?
zambesi new zealand fashion week
Outlandish men’s outfits at London Fashion Week caused outrage in some
sections of the media last week. But will such clothes ever challenge the
hegemony of the suit, shirt and tie?
Charlie Higson the amazing
actor, comedian and author
If this is going to be about
whether men are interested
in the sort of fashion we
have been seeing at London
Fashion Week, then this is
going to be like shooting fish
in a barrel. Actually, shooting
fish in a barrel has been
the theme of the McQueen
show, with models dressed
in wooden barrels full of carp,
while other models dressed
as crabs take potshots at
them with sniper rifles. There
has been much outraged
coverage in the likes of the
Daily Mail of those pictures
of an outfit whose main
feature appears to be an
exploded crate stapled to the
model’s face. Of course, it’s
not about fashion, it’s about
PR. Nobody would give a toss
about Men’s Fashion Week,
there would be no articles
or outraged mail pieces, no
one would be talking about
the designers, if the shows
featured what all well dressed
men are wearing grey suits,
with a smart tie and a nice
shirt. This doesn’t just apply
to men’s fashion no one has
ever been seen wearing a
single catwalk creation after
a fashion show in the whole
history of the world, ever. If
the question is whether men
are interested in fashion in
general, then I’d have to say
if by fashion you mean do
most men wear grey suits
with a smart tie and a nice
shirt? Then perhaps they
are. Alex Bilmes, editor of
Esquire You’ll be relieved
to learn I’m writing this in
a grey suit with a smart tie
and a nice shirt. Quite a
fashionable suit, I’m not at
all ashamed to admit. It’s by
Richard James, who is one
of the many talented British
menswear designers who
showed his clothes this week
during what we’re calling
London Collections Men, the
colon is silent, as it should be.
Richard’s catwalk show, like
the overwhelming majority of
the catwalk shows, consisted
of models in sharply cut,
beautifully tailored jackets
and trousers and sweaters
and shirts. The Mail, as ever,
took the best of the reductio
ad absurdum approach and
ofcourse focusing only on
the most outre and avant
garde collections and trying
to ignore everything else. They
chose to deliberately miss the
point and we know why.
They see it as sophisticated,
metropolitan, and therefore
suspect. But we need not to
be like them. Fashion, like
architecture, or music, or
poetry, or comedy, is about
trying to make the world a
more pleasant, enjoyable
and why not? Better looking
place. I concede that there
probably are men who are
not interested in fashion, or
in any of those things. But
what a horrid, drab world they
must live in, poor dears.
I see men in colourful
trousers flamboyant
jackets coats wacky
shoes edgy haircuts
increasing willingness
to experiment with new
styles and keeping up
with the trends