Ceci n'est pas une pipe. This coat is not gendered. Does a piece become less masculine if you whack a 'Genderless' sign on it - even if it is oversized, bulky and somehow strangely aggressive? I’m not sure.
For his stint as guest designer at Pitti Uomo, Florence’s thriving men’s trade show, Juun.J was pondering ‘less’. They say less is more. That was quite the case for Juun.J - less had translated as maximalist, and sometimes incoherent, wording across sleeves, trouser legs and scarfs. Together, they formed a list on his invitation. Boundaryless. Eraless. Formless. Viewless. Kindless. And, as mentioned, Genderless. It's unsurprising that Juun.J had jumped on the fast-moving, attention-grabbing gender fluidity bandwagon. It’s the hottest debate in menswear right now and the ticket to a whole lot of column inches - remember, Alessandro Michele got us all talking about the ‘reinvented’ Gucci simply by putting boys in old ladies’ blouses. We’ll no doubt see countless other designers try to muscle their way into the discussion across this season, even if it is only with some provocative slogans. At Juun.J, this wasn't the foppish, waifish spirit we see at Gucci or, say, J.W Anderson, the original gender-bender - there was ‘less’; less colour, less frills, less florals, less detailing. It was like gender had been removed entirely. Indeed, those monochrome looks and vaguely futuristic shapes suggested that this wasn’t about men or women - it felt like we were viewing a proposition for a uniform for some super-human alien community, one where high-waisted leather trousers, giant hoods and bulky bikers are essential-wear.
This was alien-chic. I felt smart observing that until Juun.J himself hammered the point home, commissioning Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama to render his ultra precise drawings of sexualised robotic, fantasy females across aviator jackets - worn by each model at the finale of the presentation like an army uniform. Quibbles about whether these erotic depictions of women - all classic long limbs, pert breasts, slim torsos, open mouths, shapely bums, the kind of clichés you’d find in any men’s magazine - fit with Juun.J’s proud ‘Genderless’ claims aside, these pieces worked better than the wordplay. Elsewhere, perhaps aptly given the ‘less’ theme, it was the pieces that tried less hard that worked best - simple striped coats, oversized tailored blazers and jackets and baggy, puddle trousers spoke to me more than the slogans.
