GENDER BENDERS Tim Blanks talks about crossing his and her looks on the runways |
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Likewise with the prints and colours that have made Spring ’08 the most vibrant in years. Flowers bloomed across the board, from washed-out blossoms at Dries to Balenciaga’s Warholian pop petals. And all of them highlighted intense colour, which harked back to the men’s collections: McQueen’s Hawaiian florals, Dolce’s hippies, Missoni and Burberry mirroring the primary palette used by artist David Hockney. Which brings us to Miuccia Prada, who told an eerie bedtime story for spring, with images of vine-entwined nymphs printed on silk tunics and cropped, flared pants, and ethereal chiffons. That was her womenswear, at least. For men? She left out the fairies but showed the same silken tunics and flared pants in the same decadent colour palette. As of this writing, Miuccia has already shown her Fall ’08 collection for men and, if anything, it moves even more determinedly into some new middle ground between the genders. Among her proposals for Fall ’08 are jackets that wrap or close with hook and eye like a corset, shirts that button down the back and a two-piece of bib front and garter belt. I’m calling it a boykini. So what’s it all mean? I’ll give Miuccia credit for crystallizing the way the power balance is shifting between the genders. How many times have you read lately that women are out-achieving men on almost every level of society? That hardly means the boykini will be de rigueur for next fall (think of it as a statement Miuccia made for her show), but I say keep your eyes peeled for more of this mutant fashion. Tim Blanks |