CHOICE CUTS: THE FRESHEST THOUGHTS ON MENSWEAR IN THE PRESS
“What It’s Really Like to Be Black and Work in Fashion” by Lindsay Peoples Wagner
From The Cut, August 23, 2018 I surveyed more than 100 black individuals, from assistants to executives, stylists, celebrities, models, and everyone in between. Plenty of names you might recognize declined to participate, and several cited fear as the reason. But I a lso had some of the most authentic, and often tearful, conversations about the pains of racism I’ve ever had. It all makes sense once you see that behind the scenes, on sets for magazine covers, in castings for runways, and on the teams chosen to create multimillion-dollar ad campaigns, black people are rarely to be found in positions of power. There have never been more than one or two black editors-in-chief of any major U.S. magazines, and only one black designer leading a major American fashion brand. (…) There are many reasons for this – financial barriers, social obstacles, colorism, bias, and plain old racism. I heard about them all in my conversations. The stories ranged from covers lost because there was no hair and makeup team trained to do a black model’s hair; to the coded, terrible things people say to black editors, and the ways in which some are asked to explain their culture and vouch for what is cool, yet are denied the chance to contribute in meaningful ways.
“The Prada Flame Shirt Is Performance Art” by Troy Patterson
From The New Yorker, July 22, 2018 It seems possible that the f lames on the shirt combusted when the dramatic pattern contrast provoked a violent chemical reaction.
The shirt resembles an elevated version of an embarrassment perpetrated by one’s f ather at a backyard barbecue. Its ugliness is i mpudent. The f lames might have leaped to the print f rom a s hirt owned by a d river whose rear window features a decal of a u rinating cartoon character, or f rom the uniform of a bygone bowling team. The shirt is contemporar y i n the post-normcore way of h igh-end f anny packs and opulently shapeless dresses.
The shirt’s retail price of twelve hundred dollars is, even by the preposterous standards of the luxury market, bananas. You can get a silk Gucci bowling shirt, of a similar cut, with a floral pattern placing extravagant orchids and shimmering beetles against a field of olive, for a mere eighty dollars more. On the other hand, the Prada shirt exists alongside another, made of nylon gabardine and printed with banana clusters, priced at $1,790. It requires great resources – adamant confidence, foremost – to indulge in the performance art of getting oneself dressed at this level, to leave the house in a shirt that most of us could wear nowhere at all.
“The Death of the Plain, Preppy Sneaker” by Chris Chafin
From Racked, August 29, 2018 For years now, my most f rivolous indulgence has been buying a bl indingly white new pair of Keds Men’s Champion sneakers. I d o t his annual ly. (...) This year, I f ound myself cl icking t hrough t he Keds s ite, unable to f ind t hem. Eventual ly, it became a l l too clear t hat t hey must have been discontinued. A Keds spokesman conf irmed t his v ia emai l: The Men’s Champion i s gone. (…) “There has been a movement toward what you would call hypebeast-y-t ype footwear,” i n t he men’s market, Brian Trunzo [senior menswear editor for trend forecasting agency WGSN] said, speaking of t he i ncreasing popularity of a whole range of brightly colored, often i ntentional ly ugly shoes, a unique blend of streetwear style and high f ashion, whose ultimate example is Balenciaga’s $ 900 Triple S. These shoes, and t heir l ower-priced cousins from brands l ike Fi la, have moved from relatively niche popularity among sneaker f anatics ( historical ly, primari ly African and Asian American) to ef fectively dominating the i ndustry across demographics. If you want to know how complete that v ictory has been i n t he world of men’s clothing, just d rop by your local J.Crew.
“How The Art of Woman-repelling Finally Entered Menswear” by Lauren Sharkey
From i-D Magazine, July 5, 2018 Men’s f ashion has caught onto the art of self- expression. Just a s t ightf itting dresses and leg-baring skirts were replaced by f loaty prairie designs and ugly sandals for women, men’s strait-laced suits and standard leather jackets have been swapped for l acy looks, look-at-me prints, and even comfort-f irst t racksuits. A 1982 study showed that contrary to popular opinion, men are more self-conscious when it comes to how others perceive the way that they dress. And unlike male animals who display vibrant colours i n order to win a mate, male humans tend to stick to quiet hues and silhouettes so as not to scare off potential admirers (rather than as a mere personal preference). (…) What’s i nteresting i s that this dressing for yourself t rend has been adopted by both i ndependent designers and the monoliths of the i ndustry. (…) Though these col lections may each have their i ndividual quirks, together they form a way for men to explore their sartorial l ikes and dislikes. To revel i n the f reedom and excitement that comes with having so many possibilities. (…) These clothes don’t care for the opinions of others. Instead, they encourage the wearer to radiate conf idence. Like Mark Twain said: “The worst loneliness i s to not be comfortable with yourself.”