Are men the new fashion victims? Are men afraid of beauty? How important is erotic capital to their style and their identity? Are fathers the new mothers? Does the classic guy have a future? In other words: what makes a man? And what does he look like?
The European Fashion Award FASH 2013 features this year’s theme “SEXes” and is looking for new images for men – which in turn reveal new images for women too.
Today there are many opportunities to be a woman, and much progress for men to live as homosexuals. Even heterosexual men must now decide on a role; whether to be macho, a wimp, a maternal figure or something entirely different. He often feels cornered; overwhelmed by contradicting demands. At the same time, the media talks about the new “femi man”, shows men as women on magazine covers, and men like Kanye West wear women’s fashions. Is this only an issue for Western societies? Or is it merely a topic for the media debate amongst themselves?
The current trends on catwalks and on the streets show that the structure of conventional masculinity is clearly changing and it is a change affecting men and women alike. At the same time, this dynamism can be seen as uncertainty for others who yearn for more stable roles for men and women.
The European Fashion Award FASH 2013, featuring the theme “SEXes”, is searching for the new role model for men – and women. What are the new options for our myriad identities? What perspective should we strive for? How can fashion combine aesthetic and erotic demands? What is an acceptable differentiation between male and female? Or is there one? What does desirable fashion look like for middleaged men and women, whose body is not always considered perfect according to the media?