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Female designers 'trashy' - men do it better
"THE head of Australia's most prestigous fashion school has labelled the way Sydney women dress today as "trashy" and said the future of Australian fashion design lies in the hands of men.
Nicholas Huxley, the director of the Sydney Institute's Fashion Design Studio, said he had chosen only men to represent the school at Australian Fashion Week this year for the first time because he also had little faith in the way that women design for other women.
"Girls are designing more for themselves and for their girlfriends," said Mr Huxley. "They do ruffles and minis and more frou-frou looks.
"It is for the way that women are dressing today. They are dressing to go out shopping for men. It is cheap and nasty."
He said in contrast he has found that young male designers at the school, which has produced Australia's top designers including Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa, were designing for women in a more stylish way.
"They are creating intelligent design that shows women in a very professional, slick and stylish way," he said. "It is still sexy but classy as well."
Mr Huxley said it is the first time he had chosen all men to represent the school in a young designer show at Australian Fashion Week.
He said he believed the new looks created by graduating students Dion Lee, Guy Hastie, Christopher Esber and Spencer Webber, would appeal to women who wanted to smarten up their act."
Source
What does everyone think - do male designers create better womenswear?
Nicholas Huxley, the director of the Sydney Institute's Fashion Design Studio, said he had chosen only men to represent the school at Australian Fashion Week this year for the first time because he also had little faith in the way that women design for other women.
"Girls are designing more for themselves and for their girlfriends," said Mr Huxley. "They do ruffles and minis and more frou-frou looks.
"It is for the way that women are dressing today. They are dressing to go out shopping for men. It is cheap and nasty."
He said in contrast he has found that young male designers at the school, which has produced Australia's top designers including Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa, were designing for women in a more stylish way.
"They are creating intelligent design that shows women in a very professional, slick and stylish way," he said. "It is still sexy but classy as well."
Mr Huxley said it is the first time he had chosen all men to represent the school in a young designer show at Australian Fashion Week.
He said he believed the new looks created by graduating students Dion Lee, Guy Hastie, Christopher Esber and Spencer Webber, would appeal to women who wanted to smarten up their act."
Source
What does everyone think - do male designers create better womenswear?
Post Last Updated: 13.04.2008 at 19.42
It irks me a bit at the assumption that all women dress "cheap and nasty" as while that may be true in some cases I know of a lot of women who don't! I think Mr. Huxley needs to learn not to use gross generalisations as it's basically digging yourself into the proverbial hole. I know some males who don't dress as well as the potentially could but I am not going to be so presumptuous as to state that all men must dress badly because of a few incidences.
I don't think designing itself should be related to the gender of the designer but the designer themselves. Some men will be good at it and some women will be good at it, it's like anything in life. Some people have the personality for designing, others for sports or medicine or humanities. But while certain genders can have a psychological 'lean' to one area over another, that is not to say that only one gender is 'allowed' to be skilled in a particular area; to say so is unfounded and superfluous.
I don't think designing itself should be related to the gender of the designer but the designer themselves. Some men will be good at it and some women will be good at it, it's like anything in life. Some people have the personality for designing, others for sports or medicine or humanities. But while certain genders can have a psychological 'lean' to one area over another, that is not to say that only one gender is 'allowed' to be skilled in a particular area; to say so is unfounded and superfluous.
What a horrible, opinionated piece. Of course it's not true! Courtenay is completely right.
But if there is a point to the article at all ... I think this is a contradiction:
If ANY of it is true - they are designing for what they think men iike - and for a market niche as such - not for "themselves", necessarily.
But if there is a point to the article at all ... I think this is a contradiction:
Post by Tania
"Girls are designing more for themselves and for their girlfriends," said Mr Huxley. "They do ruffles and minis and more frou-frou looks.
"It is for the way that women are dressing today. They are dressing to go out shopping for men. It is cheap and nasty."
If ANY of it is true - they are designing for what they think men iike - and for a market niche as such - not for "themselves", necessarily.
Post Last Updated: 14.04.2008 at 06.13
I'm very glad to see that there has not yet been a "this is so true!" response... because I might just need to dust of my soap box if it does happen...
And trust me, I can go on for hours...
Also, the thing with generalisations is that, as seen here, people who have been generalised who do not fit the criteria of the aforementioned generalisation tend to jump up in response and defend themselves...
Mr. Huxley should be careful if and when he does design for women... he may not have much support if his target audience is insulted.
And trust me, I can go on for hours...
Also, the thing with generalisations is that, as seen here, people who have been generalised who do not fit the criteria of the aforementioned generalisation tend to jump up in response and defend themselves...
Mr. Huxley should be careful if and when he does design for women... he may not have much support if his target audience is insulted.
I'm a bit too tired to read the whole thing (sorry!) but I've got to confess that the first thing that occured to me on reading this title is the fact that the world's most prominent designers are all men. It's only really Prada who stands out as a female designer of note and taste.
While that may be noted, people can't simply say that all women designers are going to design horrible clothing. It's called sexism to do so. While there are notable male designers, I'm quite sure there are many female designers who are out there who may not have been discovered yet or perhaps not given the chance to show what they can really do.
The way in which Mr. Huxley outright says males and better than females when it comes to designing is uncalled for because it's a statement which is unfounded and based purely on personal opinion. To each his or her own and everyone has different taste in clothing (and other aspects to life) and therefore different tastes in designers.
The way in which Mr. Huxley outright says males and better than females when it comes to designing is uncalled for because it's a statement which is unfounded and based purely on personal opinion. To each his or her own and everyone has different taste in clothing (and other aspects to life) and therefore different tastes in designers.
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