There are loads of straight men who work in fashion, we thought. There must be. Over breakfast in a midtown diner, we tried to compile a comprehensive list. There's Ralph Lauren. That's one. But then we decided we were suspicious of most of the other designers who say they're not gay. So that's the list curtailed already. There are a few straight editors, the odd PR and that's pretty much it. Most of the photographers are straight, and that's understandable. Their job is all about the objectification of women. The rest of us live up to the cliche - gay men dominate fashion. This past summer it's a truism that has been exploited. The US hit show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy takes heterosexual males and follows the makeover of their whole lives by a team of five very gay men. It's a bit like Trinny and Susannah without the desire to grab at women's breasts. Fans of the show often enjoy it for the wrong reasons. "I watch it, but I don't empathise with it," says Horacio Silva, a style editor on the New York Times. "It's all about laughing at the silly queens. It begs more overreaching questions, such as: why is a gay guy any better equipped to offer advice on style? But those kind of points are not going to be addressed on this show." It is an interesting issue, and one that has much to do with the weird mix of constancy and change that dominates our culture. With the emphasis on an urban-centric living and none of the ties of parenthood, adapting to new ideas is simple - we can reinvent ourselves in tune with fashion ad nauseam. Visit London's places du jour, such as the George and Dragon pub or the Horse Meat Disco night, and you will find fortysomethings fearless among those who are only just legally allowed to drink. But not all is in flux. Gay men are obsessed with youth through lust and fear: lust for what we covet and fear of what we will inevitably lose. To keep hold of it, there is a standard uniform that has varied little across the decades of modern gay life. Of course, any male can wear a T-shirt and jeans, but it takes a surprising amount of effort to maintain the look well. You see straight friends at the weekend who wear a suit all day at work. They will be in a T-shirt, but it will be some shapeless promotional thing they have had for years. They might have some old jeans, but more likely they will be in combats chosen for comfort, not fashion. They have got into their rut, and are at home in it. We actively seek to maintain the T-shirt-and-jeans style because, in a more competitive environment, gay men have a much stronger interest in showing themselves off than heterosexual males. By sticking to the boyish look into their 30s and 40s, gay men with no interest in fashion still have a sense of style. I have friends who find fashion too boring to hate it, yet they still look good because they rely on this predefined and identifiable wardrobe. It means that gay men appear to know what they are doing with fashion, even if they don't. Hence the belief that gay men are more fashionable. Since it is made for American television there is a sanitised air about Queer Eye - it's more Will and Grace than Queer as Folk. This is curiously in line with how fashion treats its gay men. Designers such as Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors or Zac Posen rarely talk about, or are asked about, their boyfriends. This isn't an issue of treating more elderly names with dignity - young designers Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler are described as partners, but that word is never qualified. This is despite the fact that the two of them have matching tattoos of stars hidden behind their ears. Fashion insiders have been talking about the fact that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are no longer a couple, and may not have been for years, but since their life together was never really talked about, even though they remain a business item, their life apart is not dwelt on. You could say that this is a good thing: designers are not meant to be celebrities, and shouldn't be expected to reveal details of their personal lives. But this feels more like an example of the escape and avoidance that can be a feature of the gay character. In this week's New Yorker magazine, John Galliano tells of his love and respect for his father, who died in July just before the last Dior couture collection. But the writer, Michael Specter, reports that "many things were left unsaid between the two men", among them that Galliano is gay ("It was all very Latin and complicated between me and my father," he told me). Because fashion embraces homosexuality then helps to hide it, the industry has been some sort of safe haven. This is particularly true in America, where you get the sense that gay life is constrained by business because any more honesty might scare off more conservative customers. In Britain, it's less of an issue - during interviews Alexander McQueen has been known to reveal all. But in the US, people working for the New York cloth trade are well aware that west of the liberal east-coast cities, there is a whole continent still awash with prejudice. And for those of us who follow the shows around? Our attempt to make a list of straight men fizzled out into a more pressing discussion of who'd-said-what the night before. Over the last couple of days, we have tried to resurrect the list, but then started off on something else. So what if gay men are more fashionable? We're just getting on with the job. |
