OP-ED: Tamara Cincik, CEO at Fashion Roundtable
By Tamara Cincik
The V&A’s Fashion Masculinities - The Art of Menswear
Last week I went to the latest fashion exhibition at the V&A, which is my favourite museum in London, so somewhere I always enjoy visiting. A highlight of the work we do at Fashion Roundtable was hosting an event at the V&A in 2019 Global Britain: Local Stories, where speakers included the Director of the V&A, former MP and historian, Tristram Hunt and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Dame Eleanor Laing, alongside fashion designers including Rahemur Rahman and Tolu Coker and Teleica Kirkland, Creative Director for the Costume Institute of the African Diaspora.
With that event in my mind, it was brilliant to see Rahemur's work alongside other new talent. I enjoyed the colour coding section, where shades of a hue were shown in harmony and explanations about what this colour symbolised in historical terms were explained. A particular highlight was Harris Reed's dusty metallic pink Fluid Romanticism outfit and an electric blue 1970's style velvet double breasted suit by Gucci, who partnered with the V&A for the show.
Also interesting was the geopolitical context setting, such as the exploration of Ancient Greek competitive sports and art and its neo-classical and modern fashion influences. Where I felt it could have gone further, was not seeing the links in other cultures and in sports still played today. My grandfather and several of my uncles were all Turkish "pehlivan", which translates as a wrestling champion, and is a clear descendant of Ancient Greek sports - especially given the geography and shared history of these and Persian cultures - so it felt like a link obvious (to me), which I think was missed.
The large expanse of space given to decoding the black suit and formal evening wear was also impressive, seeing the subtleties of difference and the codes which are emblematic when any expression of selfhood has to be minimal in difference, but maximal in meaning, to confirm to moral strictures. Marlene Dietrich's black evening suits looked wonderfully modern and wearable.
But again, I felt there were gaps. Where was Carlo Brandelli, an old friend of mine, so again I might be biased, but who designed unstructured suits, which revolutionised Savile Row, first at Squire (yes, I was there, I worked for Carlo for a while) and then at Kilgour, where his campaigns were art directed by Peter Saville CBE and photographed by Nick Knight. OBE.
A true trinity of talented English dandies, who I felt were missing from this exhibition. Nick's bespoke shirts and suits, combined with his skin head and passion for photographing flowers, or Peter's white jeans and Gitanes combination, is the quintessence of exceptional English taste. On old friends, where was Mark Powell, the peacock suited king of Soho, who links East End working class style, to classic tailoring?
Also missing, was more on Beau Brummell, the godfather of all dandies and while he was mentioned, I would have loved to see more, as the debt that menswear and by default style, suiting and British heritage brands owes to him is vital to an understanding of British fashion. There is a reason his statue greets us on Jermyn Street. The Duke of Windsor was featured, and his loud check tweed suits certainly scream technicolor and veer into pastiche, which of course says so much about his life's choices.
My father and Jimi Hendrix shared a tailor based in Carnaby Street in the 1960's, so a love of dandy fashion is a passion of mine. Images of Jimi, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones featured, as well as fashion's on-going dialogue with gender, with exhibits from Versace, Hedi Slimane and Margiela, all exploring concepts around masculinity - cut, fabric and femininity - silhouette length. Fashion is always a conversation with change, identity, what we want to reveal, what we seek to hide. This exhibition explores that conversation; for anyone keen to learn more about the history of gender, self expression, and social constructs, this is well worth a visit.
From now, until Sunday, 6 November 2022. Tickets available here.