Image via Complex Original
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Fall/Winter 2015, we hardly knew ye.
The close of women's fashion week in Paris marks the end of the F/W 15 ready-to-wear shows in the major cities and, with it, the end of another season of big budget runway extravaganzas, A-list celebrities and impressive turnouts. Oh, and there were men's shows too.
In fashion, unlike in, say, professional sports or most organized religions, those focused on women enjoy greater resources and more attention than their men's-centric counterparts. It's why Tommy Hilfiger transformed the Park Avenue Armory into a football stadium complete with a Jumbotron and goal posts for his womenswear, while his men's collection got, well, nothing.
Or, in Kardashian, the Esperanto of the Internet age: If women’s fashion shows are Kim revealing her newly bleached blonde hair in Paris, then men's fashion shows are Kylie Jenner pumping gas at a Sunoco in Calabasas. A strong and growing subsection of people care about the latter, like those of your reading this website, but it's not moving the meter to the same degree as the former.
This is, of course, in part because women's apparel and accessories simply outsell men's. And while menswear is growing at a faster rate, there's still a ways to go before the playing field, Hilfiger-branded or otherwise, is leveled.
But the disparity between the two doesn't have to be quite as vast, and the powers that be who are investing in New York's first standalone men's fashion week this summer are certainly hoping to close the gap at least a little bit. To get a jump start, let's take a look at some of what has and hasn't worked from this season's women's shows to see how we can apply it to the forthcoming, cumbersomely-titled New York Fashion Week: Men's.
Steve Dool is a writer based in New York City. Follow him on Twitter.
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Put On A Show
As the concept of a fashion show seems increasingly outdated, why not amp up the theatrics to entertain those who you've assembled while you still can? Few brands can or should spend the type of money on their shows and presentations as Chanel does each season, building sets that are jaw dropping in their expansiveness. But, no matter where you fall on the value of that build out, no one can say that Karl and company didn't make a valiant effort to wow their crowd. Designers like Adam Selman also proved you can have some fun on a much smaller budget.
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Allow Room For Experimental Design
When New York Fashion Week: Men's was announced, the roster of designers on board was impressive, if predictable. A little avant-garde can go a long way. Look at what Jacquemus is doing with his women's collection in Paris. Is it wearble? Not really. Is it artful? Maybe. Is it a respite from the same old that has people talking? Definitely.
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Cast Diverse Shows
There have been nominal steps toward solving this ever apparent problem. Zac Posen, for example, pulled together an assortment of models that showed him truly embracing the idea of racial diversity on the runway. Wouldn't it be great to look back in a few seasons and see that this has never been an issue in the history of New York Fashion Week: Men's from the start? God, that name is so bad.
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Embrace The #FROW
There's an undeniable confidence to seating Cara Delevingne, Woody Harrelson, Kanye and Sir Paul side by side in the front row, as Stella McCartney did. If you've got them in your Rolodex, you might as well call them in.
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But Not Too Much
Maybe if Balmain's Olivier Rousteing spent less time air kissing and more time designing, he wouldn't have gotten harsh pans from both Cathy Horyn and Robin Givhan.
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Speaking Of, Let's Leave Room For Men’s Fashion Criticism
When John Fairchild passed away in February, tales of his feuds with designers and years-long banishments from certain shows were frequently recounted. While Fairchild's persona was always extreme, dealing with reviews of any kind is'’t a major concern for men’s designers here, since the most prominent critics from US publications—Horyn, Givhan, Tim Blanks and The New York Times’ Vanessa Friedman—exert more of their attention toward the women's collections in New York. Maybe this will be resolved now with separate calendars, but creating an environment where critics, established or otherwise, critique instead of just recap can only further legitimize the all-men's outing.
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Don't Be Afraid To Pander To Your Audience
In Paris, Gwendoline Christie aka Brienne of Tarth aka female Jay Mohr, walked triumphantly in the Vivienne Westwood show. Let's just call it like it is: If all else fails, call somebody from Game of Thrones.