It is that time of the year again wheret London is the epicentre of men’s fashion with the bi-annual show called London Collections: Men. MenStyleFashion was covering these events from 2013, a year from when the first dedicated men’s fashion show started in London. Before the start of this dedicated men’s event, we had to do with London Fashion week which would showcase some elements of men’s fashion but it was mainly an event for women’s fashion. This morning I sent out this tweet.
Is #menswear #LCM2016 over before it begins? #women models on the catwalk. #unisex outfits https://t.co/xeOpih1e26 pic.twitter.com/WNT0sPDz9i
— Gracie Opulanza (@gracieopulanza) January 9, 2016
Should Women Be On a Men’s Catwalk
So after looking at the various catwalks of day 1, I got confused when I was looking at the Nasir Mazhar catwalk when I noticed women on the catwalk. Was this part of the bigger unisex trend we have been seeing for the past couple of years? To me it was clearly not. These were not women displaying unisex clothing, these women models were showing off their bras and mixing with men on the catwalk but still showcasing women’s fashion.
I can’t stand it and it makes no sense to me grow some balls and keep the #women off #LCM2016 the catwalks https://t.co/HsVO3zflE4
— Gracie Opulanza (@gracieopulanza) January 8, 2016
London Collections: Men 2016 Showcasing Menswear Is This Unisex?
It got me thinking why did the designer choose to do this? Was it to gain more news by being the first catwalk that had women models on a male fashion show? It worked as it got my attention as I am writing about it. Or was it due to budget constraints and why not show both male and female collections on the same catwalk? Maybe it is time for me to ask the designer what his thoughts were, but this was not a case of showcasing unisex clothing. I hope this is not a trend to be set or embraced as Men’s fashion is finally getting more and more dedicated events.
Paris is starting to host its own Men’s event in 11 days time and we also have smaller events like the TOM in Toronto which was covered by MenStyleFashion last year. This is a sign that men’s fashion is becoming more and more prominent.
Unisex Or Cross Dressing?
In December I walked into a Massimo Dutti store in Barcelona and I was going to look for some clothes for myself and I went to the women’s section. And after browsing for a while, I noticed menswear clothes and suddenly a lot of thoughts went through my mind. Was the floor that I was on a mixed section of both womenswear and menswear? I looked again and it clearly said mujer, Spanish for women. Then I looked at the sizes and this was menswear with women’s sizing.
Is this unisex clothing or is this cross dressing marketed in front of my eyes? The lines are blurring to me; this was cross dressing. I sent out the following tweet and it confirmed my thoughts that this was menswear on the female section of this store.
If you think this collection is for a man #RetweeetPlease @menstylefashion #fashion pic.twitter.com/w8p4cqfNdT
— Gracie Opulanza (@gracieopulanza) December 22, 2015
Cross Dressing Morphing Into Unisex
I don’t mind seeing menswear trends displayed at the women’s section. I myself like to wear men’s shirts as pyjamas or use men’s ties as accessories in my hair or use as a belt. I like this form of men’s trends making it into women’s fashion. I also noticed the reverse trend where female clothing is making it into the men’s world. Initially this is used by designers to create a shock factor and therefore be in the news like the J.W Anderson catwalk in 2013.
This is cross dressing where women’s clothing is worn by men.
This form of men wearing female clothes is less accepted than the other form of women wearing men’s clothes. And maybe in 10 to 20 year’s time, it will be more and more accepted and we see what is now called cross dressing being morphed into something that is called unisex. What defines unisex clothing now is the same type of clothing worn on both men and women that does not shock men.
In this case it is menswear what will be the trend setter of what is deemed unisex clothing. As for women wearing bras on a men’s fashion show, that has nothing to do with unisex. As for our readers, they are much more inspired by what is happening on the street than what is being showcased on the catwalk.
