Fill Me In

Luxury brand Gucci has just unveiled its Fall/Winter 2020 Collection, which includes an orange tartan smock with a satin bow for men. The purpose of the garment is to “disrupt toxic stereotypes that mould masculine gender identity”, and retails for £1,700 (S$3,000). 

The smock also features a “contrast Peter Pan collar” that adds a “childhood-inspired” element, a recurring theme of the collection. On the website, the smock is styled over a pair of ripped denim pants, inspired by grunge looks from the 1990s. 

Negative reactions on social media

Since the release of the smock on its website, it has been met with mainly negative reviews, with many criticising the garment’s colour and steep price tag. 

Journalist Joe Garza said, “Only the most self-hating male could possibly wear this under his own volition, but even male feminists have their limits.” In another tweet, he also described the dress as a “stain on human artistic achievement”. His strong opinions inspired him to write an entire article criticising the dress. 

A Twitter user, MCQN, questioned the luxury label’s styling of the garment. “I don’t really know what they were trying to do here and I really don’t know why my man has jeans on underneath.” 

“This seems pointless because anyone can get a better-looking dress for 20 to 30 bucks on Amazon,” someone else also wrote.

Not Gucci’s first foray into gender-bending clothing

The orange tartan smock dress isn’t the first time that Gucci has ventured into the realm of breaking gender stereotypes. The brand’s pre-fall 2019 collection also featured male models sporting shirt dresses, skirts, thigh-skimming denim shorts and knee-length, schoolgirl socks. 

In a 2015 interview, Alessandro Michele, creative director of Gucci explained his rationale for such clothing. “A lot of people talk about genderless and different kinds of masculinity. I am not clear in my ideas of sexual orientation. I try to play with something that exists. My idea of masculinity is beauty, and if you want to be beautiful you can be beautiful the way you want. It doesn’t mean you’re not a man or a woman.”

Other brands have also jumped on the bandwagon

Aside from Gucci, other brands have also been exploring traditionally ‘female’ clothing items for men. British retailer ASOS released a series of crop tops for men for Summer 2019.

Just this year, the brand also released another top that has been dubbed a ‘cheese grater’ by some. The shirt gained social media attention through twitter user Harrisonjbrock, who tweeted a comment to ASOS’ advertisement for the shirt, which is officially called the  ‘ASOS DESIGN t-shirt in navy scuba with cut-out’.The t-shirt also received backlash, with people commenting how they were uncomfortable at the idea of having their love handles exposed.