Tag: ZEM

THE BRAVEST OF MEN

While the women’s wardrobe has a lot of possibilities – skirts, pants, jeans, suits- the fashion choices for men are way more limited. Skirts are a no- go area, as well as dresses or a pink pants combined with a pink shirt. The biggest reason for this non- development is that men generally have a very conservative view of their own and each other’s identity: they have to be tough, strong and brave. The biggest insult you can give a straight man is to call him gay.

It is this theme where Dutch- Surinam designer Samira Algoe is contemplating about with her label Zem. She makes delicate, androgynous menswear in pastels or to put it in her own words: ‘my label explores the boundaries between male and female identity’. In addition Zem- Men, which her label is also called, is often interpreted as a variation on Zemmel- the Arabic name for a faggot. It makes Algoe’s label a daring and poignant one since it reflects the core of our stagnation in men’s emancipation. We expect only the bravest, strongest and toughest of men wearing her beautiful garments.

Photography by; Peter Stigter