Selling Extreme Youth On the Men's Catwalks

[Faust]

A fantastic analysis of the menswear season by Angelo Flaccavento

http://www.businessoffashion.com/2015/01/paris-extreme-youth.html

[Bson]

As someone who is relatively young at 25, I really don't find the catwalks to be age-obsessed to the extent of Mr. Angelo. The only collection that truly struck me as obsessed is Saint Laurent... Everyone knows and is aware of Hedi's extreme vision for his line-- this season I was even wondering if some of the female models were men and vice versa... Coming from a guy with many drag-queen and androgynous friends that says a lot

The brands that the writer mentions as coming apart from the beaten path in fact all use models just as thin as the next, and he doesn't mention the few brands that always show a clear delineation in the runway shows from the norm in Paris such as Yohji and even Thom Browne, who (in my eyes) chooses models for a sort of physical sexuality that he has in mind. To me the lack of racial diversity is more of an issue than any type of physical build.

When I see the majority of the models, I don't imagine them as androgynous teenagers, I see them for what they actually are: men usually in their 20s who are usually more thin than muscular. It's kind of ridiculous that he assumes that this image is automatically androgynous in itself. Shouldn't it be the clothes that define what the image is that's being sent down the catwalk? And if we aren't talking about the clothes, isn't something lost?

Faust, you probably know more than I about how the designers choose their models for the season, but some houses stay very true to a lot of their models season after season (within a certain group of years, of course), yet you also see a lot of the same models walking throughout fashion week. I think these two factors combined with the amount of models that go to the go-sees for the Paris collections doesn't leave the designers or casting agents with many open spots for a change in size or age or whatever they may have in mind unless it is imagined early-on in the design process. With most collections, the focal point isn't the all-encompassing idea of a universal man who buys high fashion in Fall 2015. I think the ideas of great fashion in clothes or photography or styling are more about a personal, intangible expression rather than some kind of global exclusivity that the writer assumes. I think the thinness of most of the models has more to do with a general tendency within the industry for fashion in Paris-- the Italian houses you see many more beefcakes, etc. It would take decades to change this trend.

To me he's writing an article about why we use 'younger-looking' models versus older models--- an idea which has been around for thousands of years in different forms (a-ha, all those statues of old Greek men had perfect bodies, and even Ruben's stocky men with beards had sinewy muscles with close to no body fat). Applying this idea solely to the menswear in Paris is a bit left-field and is missing the big picture on the general aesthetic views of 'man' and what it means to represent physical beauty in a world where most people are seeking it in some form or another.

[Faust]

Thank you for a thoughtful reply, Bson. These are the kind of posts I look forward to most.

In general I'd tend to agree with you more, though I have not seen Hermes or Valentino (why would I? ). The SLP model choice fits Hedi's shtick, so nothing new there. Otherwise I have not noticed anything our of the ordinary, and indeed there is a pool of models that are perennial favorites, like our own Paul Boche.

Having said that, Angelo's points are valid, as selling youth has been fashion's job for a while. Goes something like this:

We show you people more beautiful than you are, along with the clothes that make them more beautiful. You can't buy the body/face/height, but you can buy the clothes for a temporary fix until we show it to you again to make you feel that what you have is not enough and you need the next garment.

Ironically, there has been a slew of articles about older WOMEN's style as of late. Maybe Guy Trebay is right - men ARE the new women.

[Bson]

Thanks for your reply. :)

I totally agree! Though honestly it's refreshing to see models on the runway compared to the day-to-day life of seeing normal, average people like myself on the streets, haha! Who doesn't love seeing Paul Boche in a spread? I think die-hard fans of the brands we appreciate aren't really concerned with whether they look taller or prettier than the next person when choosing their clothes for the day-- it's not really what makes me tick, at least... That being said, I still won't buy something that makes me look shorter or fatter.....

[nomemorial]

Well, I had a relatively long response typed out here, but my computer decided to flip out and delete everything. Likely for the better.

I think it's hard to disagree with the idea that youthful appearance and fashion go hand-in-hand, but the blurred line between reality and fantasy is part of the intrigue that I find in watching designers present their craft. From the environment of the presentation to the models and pieces themselves, it's almost theatrical, the models and pieces together becoming...characters, for lack of a better word.

The author almost supports this in referring to the models in colorful terms like "neo geo school kids" and "stray cats." There's a sense of unattainability that comes with the people we see on the runway, but I don't mean that in the way people typically would when referring to models. When I say unattainable, I think about the way I feel when I read a book with an exciting character or the way a film can make a so-called "everyday" person or place into something that still can't compare with daily life. We often don't want to be these characters, not necessarily, but there's something about them that sparks our interest.

I can't speak to an artist's intent and I could be entirely off base, but the "otherworldliness" of so many of these shows, presentation of models included, is part of what makes a collection stick with me. Of course, not much to be said if the showcased product isn't quite up to par.