Men's Designers Bring New Take to Women's

With acclaimed men’s wear mavens now piloting storied women’s houses — headlined by Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent and Raf Simons at Christian Dior — it just might spark an important change in female style.

Giorgio Armani, perhaps the industry’s most compelling example of a designer who successfully made the leap from men’s into women’s, said of the overall trend, “A men’s wear designer never loses sight of the relation between shape and function, which, transferred into women’s wear, can give great results.”

And what else might a men’s wear designer bring to the table that a women’s wear specialist might lack?

“I think the sense of reality, the elegance translated into a clean and bold line,” Armani replied.

Massimiliano Giornetti, who was named creative director for all product lines at Salvatore Ferragamo in 2010 after a decade in its men’s department, agreed that “the idea of construction and functionality — a concept banned from women’s fashion for years,” is something second-nature to designers formed in men’s wear.

“Men’s fashion always had the necessity to combine aesthetics and functionality, because men refuse to wear pieces featuring details with no function,” Giornetti noted.