It's no secret that this generation's designers have little to no respect for traditional gender norms - just look at Jonathan Anderson's fetishistic frilly boy shorts from A/W 13 or the wife-beater vests and skirt and suspender combos on show at this evening's S/S 14 HBA show. But Astrid Andersen offers a new take on the trend for putting boys in 'girly' clothing. Hers is more directly sexual thanks to the juxtaposition between luxe macho street wear - see her nylons and mink - with subversive homoerotic twists, hence today's sheer lace.
The press notes stated that the collection was shaped to 'empower people and make them feel protected, or maybe just lucky.' Empowerment aside, 'getting lucky' seemed to be the real aim of the game. At points the collections was erotic to the point of being gritty - so many sexual scenarios were thrown in that it almost veered into the territory of situational porn - see the shower room scene with a half naked model toting a towel, or the locker room meet up with the boys in velour trackies.
At points it was hard to see past the polished torsos and bulging crotches and get your head around the clothes. But then maybe that was the point. This celebration of beefcakes and buff boys certainly shook up the suited and booted set and sparked enough conversation to ensure that this show - Andersen's first on-schedule solo showing after moving on from MAN - will stand out as a winner no matter what the sell-through.
