Feminism has been top news lately, fueled majorly by Emma Watson’s launch of the “He for She” campaign and speech made with it at the United Nations Headquarters. This started the trend on Twitter of posting pictures with an object bearing the words “He for She.”
Karl Lagerfeld seemed to have taken the feminist movement to heart at his Spring/Summer fashion show during Paris Fashion Week. The show ended with the staging of a feminist protest, made to look like it took place on a street in Paris, as the runway was designed. While the internet exploded with praise, Mark Izatt dissented in the article “Karl Lagerfeld’s Latest Chanel Show Might Have Dressed Itself Up in Feminism, but it was More Embarrassing than Empowering.”
I think it’s important to note that throughout the article, Izatt was dissenting towards Lagerfeld’s “protest,” never towards the feminist movement itself. Because he is a male writing on feminism, it was important to make that clear, and he did so very effectively.
The examples that he used to attack Lagerfeld’s staging were valid: the lack of minorities, the one type of woman demonstrated in the “protest,” as well as Lagerfeld’s ability to change the fashion industry, as Coco Chanel did, but his lack of effort. It changed my opinion, from praising the ending of his collection to borderline dissent.
Feminism is a topic that needs to continue to be discussed, particularly amongst males. The fact that Izatt did so effectively without upsetting this particular feminist was both refreshing and promising for the movement.
By Danyal Nokes
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