A lot of people were sniggering as they passed this cover of the latest Purple Fashion magazine with the multi-talented Vincent Gallo on the cover, photographed by Terry Richardson in a Balenciaga outfit from the A/W06 collection.
The series of photographs inside all subvert the ideas of masculinity and feminity and it made me think a little harder. At first, perhaps you may laugh a little and think it a little ridiculous. But when I think about the trend for severe masculinity in women's fashion, or what the fashion world like to term 'adrogynous' it baffles me a little as to why men wearing women's fashion is not accepted in the same mainstream way. If a woman takes all those very traditionally masculine clothing trademarks like ties, brogues, braces and tuxedos and wears them, they are deemed stylish and cutting edge. Somehow the woman's sex appeal is raised. However, on the flipside, when a man dons a dress, the labels 'drag' and 'cross dresser' get bandied about. I'm not saying all men should suddenly start buying up frocks but where does male equivalent of female 'androgynous' dressing lie? Does it even exist? If you look at these pictures here, silly expressions aside, Vincent Gallo doesn't look completely ridiculous to me. In fact, there's an ease about him wearing that Giles Deacon dress or jumping in Lanvin. The picture of Gallo wearing heels doesn't really strike me as absurd or shocking. It's almost as if it's very natural for him to be wearing those platform shoes. Perhaps what starts as a photoshoot in jest and mockery will lead to somewhat of a turning point in men's fashion.
