There’s a theory that fashion’s obsession with bony, prepubescent figures is driven by gay male designers, who are occasionally accused of wanting women to look more like boys. An editorial in last week’s Observer noted, “fashion is a con-trick by largely gay male designers to make women look more like men: breastless, hipless, as skinny as a boy”; in February, the Daily Mail stated that “the most feted designers, mostly brilliant gay men, effectively tried to squeeze women out of the fashion equation.”
Patrick Strudwick wrote an article in this weekend’s Guardian refuting these ideas:
Implicit in the belief that gay designers want women to look more boyish is the notion that gay men are only capable of finding beauty in the masculine; that by making women more androgynous they become more alluring; gay men are aroused by boyishness rather than manliness. These are all untrue.
Related: Roberto Cavalli Thinks Being Straight ‘Maybe’ Makes Him a Better Womenswear Designer
Feminists should stop stitching up gay designers [Observer UK]
