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 Since the time
of emancipation, women acquired the right to wear trousers which were the
prerogative of men exclusively back in the early XX century. And why not men try
skirts on? A skirt for
men is not something new. Skirts for men have always been in fashion in most
parts of the world, but not in northern Europe and North America, where fashion
designers are trying to make them popular now. Look at real Scottish men. They
look very brave and elegant in their kilts not at all absurd. In the South-East
Asia men still wear sarongs, Indian men put on dhoti, and they know the
advantages of skirts. Unlike trousers, the skirt is far more comfortable; it does
not hinder movements and is merely made from one cloth of fabric.
In the early
1980s, fashion designers tried to create a groundswell of skirt-wearing men in
the previously skirt-phobic regions of the West, but the fashion never caught
on with the public. Apart from a few male celebrities, a few actors, like Mel
Gibson in the movie Braveheart, Russell Crowe in Gladiator, and a few
adventurous men who wear kilts at weddings or special events that emphasize a
particular ethnic heritage, most Western men still wouldn't be caught dead in a
skirt.
First skirts
for men were launched in collections of fashion designers back several seasons.
Thus, in 2006 Jean-Paul Gaultier presented several models of skirts, yet at the
Fashion Week'09 Spring-Summer collections included models presented by Etro,
Comme des Garcons and John Galliano.
In the beginning
of this year this trend was announced as quite official. The fact that men can wear
skirts in public and not to look ridiculous was demonstrated by the most reputed
French brands. Splendid male models strolled along the runway in skirts by
Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, Rick Owens, John
Galliano, Number (N)ine, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen. The models
shown ranged from flowing long skirts to skirt-like skorts.
Autumn-Winter
'09 Collection by Comme des Garcons's logo was like ‘Take men in skirts'. As
depicted in the show, with a skirt pleated and white, like the traditional
uniform of a Greek soldier, or full and white, like the apron of a worker in an
August Sander photograph, or short and black, like a schoolgirl's uniform, men
were a many and varied feast. Jean-Paul Gaultier preferred beige and black
skirts in his collection worn over the traditional trousers of the appropriate
shade.
Yohji
Yamamoto launched the collection where the definitive piece was the skort, the
kiltlike combination of skirt and shorts that is rapidly turning into a modern
classic. It definitely looked that way in combination with Yohji's oversize
jacket, as a new kind of urban tribal uniform. By the way, a shout-out to the knitwear.
Huge swaths of wool are a trend this season, and I can't imagine them getting
any huger than Yohji's cardigan coat over an equally chunky sweater.
Later on, Yohji's
skirt was seen on the famous British avant-garde artist Steve McQueen, who directed
the prize-winning «Hunger» at 2008 Cannes International Film Festival.
Marc Jacobs
is an absolute trend setter for men's skirts who has been wearing kilts ever
since his September women's show in New York; at Louis Vuitton men's on
Thursday, he paired a black version with bright Stephen Sprouse graffiti
tights.
Marc Jacobs
shows off in his skirts with such elegance that any woman could envy. Trying to
match his clothes, Marc Jacobs demonstrated either the combination of classic
dark skirt with graffiti print tights or the black skirt to match the skirt of
purple skirt. In any case, the creative director of Louis Vuitton is not at all
ludicrous in finding design solutions, yet, the skirt in the wardrobe of Jacobs
looks quite nice.
A man
should feel he is courageous and psychologically willing to wear skirts. When shocking
Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons launch collections and men demonstrate
their skirts at runways, this is one side of the issue. And the other thing, when
a man is ready to travel by the underground in New York wearing a skirt. Nevertheless,
the trend has been really adopted into the real life, and men from various
spheres appear in skirts, from male celebrities on the red carpet to mere
American and European men. Most of them afford wearing the classic skirt of
black color without any vivid prints, though. So, Sting and Vin Diesel appeared
on the red carpet in such classic skirts. The most typical for the most men is the
traditional kilt in all its variations. Yet, Sean Connery demonstrated his passion
to the classic Scottish kilt regularly wearing it. As for Mike Myers, he now
uses the chance to show his Scottish roots appearing in kilt in public.
To be sure,
skirts are not for every man. Some of them find this trend absurd, some of them
- offensive for men as gender. Nevertheless, there is a group of men who
believe that wearing such astounding garments as skirts is the opportunity to shout
on their individuality and differ from the crowd. These men are quite opportune
to wear skirts as the particular means to prove self-expression.
Regardless of
the apparent support of the trend by the most legendary designers, the fashion
retailers do not rush to replicate this trend. They are sure that this diverse
garment would hardly find the demand in conditions of global recession.
Inessa Hyder
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