Skirting the Issue of Gender

[Shana A]

Skirting the Issue of Gender

By SUZY MENKES
Published: June 26, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/fashion/collections-like-lanvin-and-raf-simons-show-hard-and-soft-can-exist-in-a-mans-summer-wardrobe.html?_r=1

PARIS — Men in skirts or men in suits? The question seems to have been in debate at least since the androgynous 1980s. Out pop the same challenges every menswear season.

But the gender play in the spring/summer 2012 Paris shows seems more intriguing. Designers are looking at a global market that includes cultures — and not just Scotland — where male/female garments are fluid. And attitudes in the 21st century are so much more open to the idea that hard and soft can coexist in one man's spirit and in his wardrobe.