Men in stilettos highlight new fashion fad

Stereotypes have been given the heave at this year's South African Fashion Week, with one entirely gender-neutral collection and another "gender-fluid" showcase in which men wore stilettos.

Designer Jacques van der Watt revealed his first entirely gender-neutral collection under his label, Black Coffee, last night.

While gender neutrality is a huge trend across the globe - Time magazine had a cover story on it last week - only a few brave designers have tackled it head-on, sourcing models ascomfortable on a male runway as they are on a female one.

Van der Watt chose to show his collection under the menswear banner of South African Fashion Week.

Style commentator Jackie Burger said: "In the past year the trend of gender neutrality has developed. Designers have embraced gender fluidity in collections, mimicking the shift in fashion which calls for style without boundaries, codes or structures.

story_article_left1

"It's a strong reflection of how the youth is dressing now and part of the millennials' challenge to rigid classification and prepackaged looks."

Van der Watt said he and his team had focused a lot of attention on choosing the models.

"We tried to find androgynous-looking people, not easily boxed, who would incorporate our fashion philosophy of fluid identity, bravery and boldness."

The designer said he incorporated two big ideas into this range - the Big Five and gender neutrality. "The starting point was the number 5," he said. "If you consider the number, you realise it's the perfect embodiment of masculine and feminine - the hard lines at the top of the digit, combined with the bulging curves at the bottom."

The Black Coffee collection embodies these notions - straight, athletic shorts, but in feminine fabrics such as mesh with ribbons as draw strings.

"Men are eager to wear great clothes, but until now the fashion industry has been aimed at women ... Men have far less scope for expression."

Van der Watt said he had always created clothes that appealed to men and women, but until now he hadn't consciously made a move towards making clothes that could be worn by both sexes.

"Regardless of the global trends, it's a clever business move," he said. "It doubles the number of clients [to whom] we've sold our range."

Also a hit at South African Fashion Week was Woolworths' Style by SA capsule collection. In it, eight young designers showcased local youth culture, with a male model in a hoodie paired with thigh-high stiletto boots and another in a feminine jumpsuit with skyscraper heels.

Designer Rich Mnisi said: "I believe in a gender-free approach. People are being shown that gender expression isn't rigid and binary, it is a spectrum that every human being has the right to explore."