CONTENTS
Page 4-25 - Challenging Preconceptions Page 26-27 - Education or Exploitation Page 28-33 - Fifa La Mott
-3-
CHALLENGING PRECONCEPTIONS
LIVING IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY, WE ALL LOOK UNIQUE. HOWEVER, MANY PEOPLE JUDGE GAY MEN ON STERIOTYPES PORTRAYED IN THE MEDIA, ASSUMING THEY WILL LOOK A CERTIAN WAY JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
-5-
TOM
-7-
-9-
TOM, 21
“SPONTANEOUS, RIDICULOUS AND HILARIOUS”
-11-
STEVEN
-13-
-15-
STEVEN, 31 “BALDIE WHO IS A FAN OF NAPS AND AVIATION”
-17-
MAL
-19-
MAL, 39
“BUD, CARS AND MOTORBIKES”
-21-
RICHARD
-23-
RICHARD, 40 “I WISH I LIVED IN THE 50’S”
-25-
EDUCATION OR EXPLOITATION? A chance to broaden knowledge or a fool proof way to increase profits? Fashion is art and art has no boundaries.
In an industry full of gay men like Jean Paul Gaultier, Armani and Dior to name a few, one would think that the fashion industry is accepting of the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. However, is the recent surge in the use of trans models proof of this or are they seen as merely a money making fetish in the fashion industry? When Andreja Pejic skyrocketed onto the fashion scene in 2010 the fashion industry exploded, she was booked by countless designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs-promoting headlines such as “Gender Bending Male Bra Model Bares All to the Associated Press.” Pejic recently underwent her gender reassignment surgery and in an online video posted to Kickstarter revealed she is unsure as to whether she has lost her appeal and questioned whether she would be accepted as a woman by the fashion industry, “There are agents that would tell me, don’t ever do it. Don’t transition. You’ll lose everything.”
Some may deem Pejic’s worries as unnecessary, she walked in womenswear shows before, why not after her reassignment surgery? The fashion industry is fickle, everyone is lusting after trends and looking out for the latest “it” item- transgender models it seems, are the must have item of the moment. Although born a boy, after surgery she will be classed as a woman, and therefore nothing will distinguish her from the other female models. It’s not just Pejic who has to deal with this uncertainty, at the same time she debuted for Jean Paul Gaultier, Brazilian model Lea T was unveiled as the face of the Givenchy Fall 2011 collection. A long time friend of creative director Riccardo Tisci, he encouraged her to model in his campaigns “I helped her through her journey and eventually we used her in our advertising campaign.” Interviewing Business and Sexual Health Champion Steven Bramwell, he explained, “obviously Tisci wanted to broaden acceptance but it makes very good business sense in terms of increasing sales and press coverage, its a 2-fold situation that cannot be avoided and ultimately Tisci would have been thinking of the best way to gain exposure.” In just one year between 2010 and 2011, Playboy circulation dropped from 2.45 million
to 1.63 million-in comes the twofold thought process. Playboy actively looked for months to find the perfect transgender model, the first to grace its pages since Caroline Cossey in 1991. In the end, they chose Ines Rau for the “Evolution” section of their Art issue, and ultimately sales and media exposure for that Playboy issue went through the roof. In November 2013 images of Rau and Tyson Beckford hit the internet. It was for a speed in OOB magazine and the coverage surrounding the images was massive-almost a year later type OOB into Google and “Tropical Surrealism” comes up as the most common search. The industry is no stranger to steamy photos-so why was the reaction from the press so huge? No one can blame Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and Playboy for using Lea, Ines and Andreja in ad campaigns, at the end of the day it gained press and exposure for the transgender community, but was it for the right reasons? Does the fashion industry see these women as sales drivers or women who just happen to have been born male? Until the fashion industry and the rest of the world begin to view the transgender community as an inclusive part of society instead of outsiders, the trend of using transgenders in fashion will always have an ulterior motive.
-27-
fifi
LA MOTT
-29-
“I SAVED UP FOR A SEX CHANGE, THEN REALISED I COULDN’T BE SELFISH. I’M TOO OLD SO I SPENT THE MONEY INSTEAD”
-31-
“AFTER DOING THE SCENE FOR YEARS, I QUIT AND DECIDED TO JUST DO PUBS. I GET TO TALK TO MORE PEOPLE”
-33-