WHO IS THE HISTORICAL ICON OF ELEGANCE?
In 1995, Michael Jackson was shot for an editorial in Vibe magazine. They dressed him in the uniform of the hip-hop culture that was sweeping over the decade: a huge Tommy Hilfiger tracksuit, with its hood pulled over a flat cap covering his eyes so only his painted pink lips were visible.There he was, posing with his arms crossed, buried in the massive shrouds of that oversized tracksuit, somehow managing to look like the epitome of elegance.
In the changing landscape of menswear that is now upon us – with its union of streetwear mania and our newfound appetite for gender-neutral fashion – I’ve thought a lot about Michael. Years ahead of his time, he intrinsically captured the spirit of the evolution of masculinity we’re experiencing on a broader level today. Here was a black boy who turned into an indefinable creature. Raceless and genderless to the eye, he transcended conformist definitions to the point of universal appeal and alienation all at once.
He could pull off any look – any genre of clothing – and still retain that most elusive of attributes: an elegance that came from within, fuelled by an otherworldly appearance that broke the boundaries of gender-specific and even human features. I think he would have loved dressing up for 2019, an age where menswear designers are putting the socio-political divide of this strange time we live in to good use.
To me, Spring Summer 2019’s epic runway meeting between streetwear and haute couture influences for men felt more like an alliance than a stand-off. From Alessandro Michele’s dress-clad skater boy at Gucci or Virgil Abloh’s bejewelled Judy Garland motifs on bomber jackets at Louis Vuitton, to John Galliano’s sturdy mackintosh bonded to an antique kimono or Pierpaolo Piccioli’s pink plumed sport,y trainers at Valentino, I realise that what now feels elegant to me is synonymous with an evolution long underway. It’s the hard-earned effect of all the stig- mas that Michael – and Bowie, Prince, Madonna – challenged decades ago, now finally reaching an absolution that could change our entire approach to men’s and women’s apparel; garments that won’t even need these gender-defining labels in years to come.
And my high-school self – who copied Michael’s nonchalant approach to gender-nonconformist dressing at a time when only superstars could get away with it – really envies the kids who get to grow up in this new climate.