"For the sake of women": Why sexuality remains on the fashionable periphery
IT'S EVERYTHING BELONGED TO IT, BUT IT WAS THE PAST WEEKLY the fashions finalized what they longed for, and others feared: sex is no longer an indispensable element of the program. And this seems to be an officially accomplished fact. The designers of all four fashionable capitals almost went through the rink on the “sex sells” principle that was imposed on us for decades - and they were. Disturbing bells sounded in the very first week - New York, where bright, "clumsy" clothes filled the podiums. Why, even Tom Ford - an adherent of all things sexy - noticeably died away. If you recall, for example, his own collection of four years ago, which included dresses and tops, which almost completely exposed the chest, it is easy to feel the contrast. Yes, puritanism, maybe it is not called, but we didn’t see such a modest Tom Ford.
Text: Yana Lukina
In London, the leadership remained behind the drama and conditional royal chic (apparently, the success of the series "Crown" and two royal weddings, died down with a difference of five months, affects): you could rarely find something on the podium that couldn’t be seen at the reception to Buckingham or Kensington Palace. What to say, if the most important element of the wardrobe was a dress length below the knee. Also in the flower - like Erdem, Simone Rocha or Richard Quinn. "Debutant" Ricardo Silence - and he was very restrained in his first collection for the British pillar Burberry.
In Milan, where once sexuality was honored above all else, even the last of the Mohicans surrendered: Versace carried away with floristics, Roberto Cavalli - this last island of “sex appeal” in the world of winning minimalism - went into sport. And all this - against the background of one of the most successful (according to critics) collection of Prada, which turned the buyers and stylists into heads with white collars and gray sweaters.
None of the best collections of the season - Marc Jacobs, Rodarte, Givenchy, Valentino, Marni, Sacai - can not be called frank. They seem to follow the commandments of Phoebe Faylo - without exaggeration of the main example in recent years of women dressing women. Not teenagers and schoolgirls of yesterday, with whom at some point fashion has become literally obsessed, namely women - adults, working, independent decision-makers, not looking for the obligatory attention of the opposite sex. The process launched by her now seems irreversible.
No wonder that Anthony Vaccarello, who remained faithful to himself, was met in Paris not so much with applause as with questions. The designer, who creates in the genre “in any incomprehensible situation, bare legs”, has all the most audacious that was in the fashionable house entrusted to him - was contrived - before and after the latter was renamed from Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent. It turned out almost a hundred bows, a significant part of which included shorts or any other mini, and completed the collection of a series of images in a very open body. The Washington Post's fashion critic Robin Givan formulated the harshest claim to the designer: “Yes, the female form is beautiful, but is it really good for borrowing clothes from boys, exposing body parts in such a way that a woman turns into“ solid legs ”instead of of being a whole person? " And she added that, even though YSL put women's sexuality at the forefront, we should not forget that men were always creative directors of the brand, which means that they were still male ideas about sexuality. Is it worth being "waged" if these same performances push you into tiny teen shorts and put on tall studs, posing as "empowering"?
When the truth about Harvey Weinstein came to light a year ago, launching a chain of other incriminations, it turned out that among the harassers there are several top photographers, including Mario Testino and Bruce Weber. It would seem so much worse, but the situation was overshadowed by the understanding that rumors about not at all professional adventures of industry workers went on for years.
Against this background, the very idea of attractiveness came to the millstones of rethinking, which in the fashion industry was also presented to a primitive scheme: show the hollow, emphasize the waist. To this day, the so-called fashion experts can be advised not to wear something for girls with small or, on the contrary, big breasts, narrow or wide hips, to put it simply, “to hide flaws”. Aegism, body-negative, any complexes related to appearance - we will not be cunning, the fashion industry has had a hand in all this. Fashion has been profiting for years at the unhealthy propaganda of the "beauty standard"; now, critics say, she should apologize.
Marketing research continually informs brands about millenial relations with gender: every tenth person does not associate himself with the sex “received” at birth; and in general, gender is a “spectrum”. This information requires a thorough review of strategies and the avoidance of stereotypes, which include sexuality in its “hetero” presentation. One of the first responded Gucci - and eventually ended up among the favorite brands of the Millennials. As Jess Cartner-Morley wrote in The Guardian: “Sometimes clothes look like geeky, sometimes luxurious, sometimes sporty, sometimes theatrical. The only bow the brand doesn't make is sexy. And I don’t recall a single brand that has grown to Gucci size being so purposefully unrelated to sex. "
The influence of the Arab countries is also making adjustments. On the retail giant Net-A-Porter, for example, today there is a separate tab "Modest". Skirts below the knee and to the floor, long sleeves, high collar, tunics. It seems that even the abundance of bandanas, handkerchiefs and "mantilles" that the past shows turned out to be rich in (with their heads covered, for example, were models for both Tom Ford and Emilia Wickstead), unobtrusively hinting at a desire to please the Middle Eastern region.
Finally, the mood changes among celebrities. Before our eyes, Victoria Beckham turned from Posh Spice to mini and WAG in bustier tops and flared jeans into a fan of minimalism. She refused her outrageous outfits Lady Gaga. This week, she came to the evening of American Elle in a baggy suit Marc Jacobs, explaining that it was in him that she felt herself. Cate Blanchett recently almost entirely switched to the costumes - and no, it's not about Le Smoking for a long time.
Well, Megan Markle, of course. Whether someone likes it or not, the duchess, who is able to increase the brand’s sales by a factor of a hundred times (as happened with the Scottish brand Strathberry), has a direct impact on fashion. She is now unlikely to wear ultrashort shorts and a translucent blouse - and the matter is not only in the royal protocol.
The past fashion weeks have demonstrated that the fashion world is mastering the rules of good form. But the problem is that nobody demanded to cancel sexuality and artistic rebellion. If a woman asks for respect, it does not mean that she needs to be offered to "get dressed."
PHOTO: Getty Images (2)
