Men Crossing Over

In ancient China, “woman-like” men, such as actors playing female roles in Peking Opera, would normally be despised. But some artistically-inclined young men from wealthy families were so fascinated with these actors’ costumes and performances they eagerly set about imitating them. Mei Lanfang was a giant among Peking Opera artists and gained international acclaim for his skillful portrayal of women. His performance tapped his feminine qualities and portrayed them in an exaggerated way, bridging the male-female divide. Just as the famous American futurologist Alvin Toffler presciently noted 30 years ago: “We see a continual blurring of traditional expectations for the sexes.”

Film director Chen Kaige’s representative work Farewell, My Concubine was a movie made in 1993 based on a story in Peking Opera. The male actor’s superb portrayal of a man playing female roles in the opera once again revived gender neutral fashion trends at the last 15 years of the 20th century. From that point on, China’s fashion designers started to explore the possibilities inherent in cross-over styles for men.

The fashion show that attracted the most attention during China Fashion Week 2011 Spring/Summer was offered by designer Qi Gang, who made a very bold foray into gender-bending for the catwalk. When it was time to take a bow, Mr. Qi Gang, wearing a stunning gown with matching 8-centimeter heels, appeared with his male and female models – men in gorgeous dresses and women in black lipstick. Qi, considered “the most talented designer in China,” says: “Fashions for men in this show are more luxurious than ever.” On this occasion, Qi not only reinvented the simple skirt, but also the full length evening gown.

The Chinese workplace is also exhibiting the gender equality and the modern attitudes that rapid socio-economic development brings, and these social trends have had an obvious influence on the public’s taste in clothes. Liu Ming, an up-and-comer with Ernst & Young, tells China Today: “I am a member of the generation born in the 1980s. For young people like me fashion is indispensable to lifestyle. Gender-neutral styling is quite prominent in international fashion and that really interests me. I just bought a soft pale pinkish-purple scarf, which could be mistaken for a woman’s scarf given its style and color. But I still want to give it a try because it is in style now.” Besides clothing, many international brands have put out health and beauty products targeting men, including shampoo, skin care products and even makeup. Liu Ming says: “When I was in college, I didn’t know anything about personal beauty care. At most I would accompany my girlfriend to buy some cosmetics. But now I use a daily cleanser and moisturizer and I have my own shampoo, aftershave and cologne. Sometimes I go to beauty salon for eyebrow shaping, which I think keeps me looking tidy but vigorous.”

Now beauty and hair salons, plastic surgery clinics and slimming centers have all started to welcome greater numbers of male customers. Meanwhile, more and more TV channels and programs that originally focused on women’s interests have switched their attention to men’s personal care in order to grab a share of this emerging and highly lucrative market.

Although the blurring of the sexes still has a long way to go before it’s what we’d call mainstream, nobody knows for sure what the future will hold.

Direction of the Fashion Industry

For China Fashion Week 2011, many domestic garment brands are getting into the gender-neutral act. Taiwan’s “knitting queen” Pan Yiliang made gender neutral designs for her Gioia Pan brand’s 2011 spring and summer series. She adopted simple colors like black, grey and deep blue for both men’s and women’s lines. Other popular domestic labels like Dayarn and Cabbeen have also released new designs with androgynous elements.

Compared with international brands that straddle the male-female divide, like the slim shirts and Western suits of Comme des Garçons, the skirts of Ann Demeulemeester’s 2011 collection and the modern Goth fashions for women by Yohji Yamamoto, China’s national brands are still in their adolescent phase – in pursuit of integration with international fashion trends.

China’s fashion industry is still at the low end of the world industry chain. Because the industry lacks competitiveness on its home turf, it is difficult for national brands to take on foreign markets. “The industry still faces many problems that demand solutions like talent cultivation, market acceptance and brand names that add value,” comments Liang Yong, executive vice president of China Fashion & Color Association. “The industry’s further development will be achieved only through combining cultural and creative industry with traditional industry, instead of focusing on processing and manufacturing,” Liang adds.

Chen Yongxia, head of the news center of the China Fashion Week 2011, says candidly: “After years of efforts by China Fashion Week, the international market has begun to show an interest in our national labels, but to enter the international market and compete with global brands is still closer to being a distant dream than a reasonable expectation.”

Turning manufacturing advantage into design advantage is crucial to sharpening the competitive edge of China’s fashion industry. Chinese designers are trying their best to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of fashion and ready themselves for that bold break into innovation.