The Gentle Men
Category: Apparel
Competitions: International
The design I am submitting is from my graduate collection titled The Gentle Men. My main source of inspiration came from a community in downtown Los Angeles, who defy societies expectations of them by reclaiming equestrian culture. Often misjudged as rappers or associated with gang culture, they embody a softer, more introspective masculinity; one rooted in care, resilience, and connection. This sparked my interest in the contradictions of modern masculinity, how traditional expectations are being reshaped, resisted, or unravelled entirely. My design explores this with twists, slouches, and an off-balanced silhouette to reflect a change from the rigid structure often seen in menswear. I was initially drawn to an image of a Compton Cowboy wearing jeans and an open denim jacket, standing in front of his horse. He carries a sense of strength, but there’s also a surprising delicacy and tactfulness to him. Denim is a material you see a lot in both western and urban styles, and what I’ve always loved about it is the level of detail and how universal it feels, it’s something almost everyone owns. I wanted to hold onto that sense of familiarity but rework it in leather, using the silhouette to reflect the more twisted, complex side of modern masculinity, like what is captured in this image. Like the man himself, leather is strong and durable, yet my design introduces a sense of delicacy. It’s these kinds of contradictions that I love exploring as a designer. It also captures the sense of unexpectedness I’m always drawn to: it has all the familiar details of a denim jacket, but the silhouette is off-balanced and reimagined in a new material.
