When you hear the words minimalist androgyny your mind instantly wanders to the 80′s, as the names Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake flash like electric brain waves. The deconstructed silhouette, its ambiguous nature and the oversized cuts that redefined proportions, which these Japanese designers instated. An aesthetic further developed and reinterpreted by the Antwerp Six and their honorary seventh Maison Martin Margiela. A statement made synonymous with the names Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Calvin Klein. An idea, which permeates all design houses at some time and is the foundation of contemporary design.
When it comes to grooming the haunted Ann Demeulemeester man,Yohji Yamamoto’s vagabond businessman, the languid androgyny of Hedi Slimane are just some of the signatures you associate with this look and pursuing SS12 we can see how such styles have proved key images on designer’s mood boards. This look demands structure, surgical precision, the removal of gender boundaries, the rejection of maximalism and factory order.
Calvin Klein an original child of minimalism ensured SS12 adhered to the brands roots in its typical paradoxical portrayal of this aesthetic, making it both hyper-sexualised and asexual at once. Hair settled upon the blow out, tethering tentatively towards the pompadour. Alexander Wang channelled Klein’s 90′s heritage both in design and grooming. As such short textured side fringes and cropped hair in boyish takes on masculinity dominated. Givenchy’s SS12′s nods to this look taking direction from Raf Simons circa the 90s, melding minimalism with unisex cuts and street culture, projecting images of hardened youth; visages an amalgamation of baby faced innocence and council house estate toughness.
Tim Soar and J.JS Lee found themselves taking cues from Helmut Lang’s AW 99 with their collections for AW 11/12. While J.JS Lee opted for a tidy side swept fringe, Tim Soar kept us guessing regarding his AW 11 grooming rituals opting for a presentation where paper bags covered mannequins faces and a lookbook where the face was only partially revealed. This however manifests in a definitive, authoritative statement which embodies the sentiments of minimalist androgyny. The idea of a blank canvas which is interchangeable. A vessel without gender boundaries. It is what you project it to be.
ACNE has always veered to the softer side of minimalism, creating striking but subdued looks for android-like mannequins rather than gender specified beings. Hair like AW 11 favoured gel but rather than being sculpted into agile winged grooves it was combed back in a utility fashion. Damir Doma SS12 literally scraped hair backwards as combs left track marks. Heavy in product and laced with vampiric undertones this style very much struck the Victor Victoria cord. Giuliano Fujiwara AW took direction from Jil Sander, Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto, throwing their minimalist takes in a blender, resulting in a finished project which favoured thin, short, product heavy hair which was lacquered to the head.
Esther Perbandt SS12 collection acted as a mirror to the institutionalised, industrial order and restraint we associate with Germany. Hair reflected this consensus, modelling itself after the 50′s soda shop kids but it was met with a touch of East End youth culture shaking its structure. Rick Owens SS12 continued to expand upon Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme’s exploration of minimalist androgyny. In this interpretation hair is long, sharply cut and poker straight, delving into this realm in both a subversive and futurist fashion.
Minimalist androgyny is both refined and ambiguous. The pared back nature of the aesthetic prompts gender neutrality. It is executed through clean, well-tailored clothes and hair which is equally as premeditated.
