Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss…Is Fashion Really a Woman’s World?
Fashion week always provides glitz and glamour as well as a melding of different artists and ideas. Whenever we think of fashion we think of supermodels and maybe some outrageous trends. What we don’t think of is how this so-called “woman’s world” is actually a man’s world. When there is a male fashion student or a male designer, assumptions are made about his sexual orientation or he is criticized for being too feminine. However, fashion is dominated by men. Most of the major designers we recognize, the brands which own the catwalk, are brands headed by men. Off the top of my head, I can name about 15-20 labels headed by men and about four or five brands headed by women. We have been under the extreme disillusion of fashion being a woman’s industry. This also raises questions about if female designers create a major part of the line, are they accredited for the work or are they excluded from the creation of major collections?
Fashion is one of the major ways we bring together influences from different cultures, countries and races. If fashion is the bridge for this kind of creativity shouldn’t gender be a part of it as well? Fashion shows evolvement of how we present ourselves. Why not present the notion in which women can stand next to men and be equally as talented? This will allow the opportunity to allow women to express themselves in such an influential field. Talent should be the driving factor over which a designer receives credit for their work. Since fashion is becoming more diverse in representation of race and size, the designing process should be equally diverse in including women.
The top ten fashion brands of 2018 were all created or headed by men. When we look at fashion magazines such as Glamour, Vogue and InStyle, they are all geared towards women’s fashion. If fashion is being geared so much towards women, promotion of female created labels should have more of a representation considering women are the main consumer audience.