Dal Chodha is a London based writer and editor of the fashion journal Archivist. He is a contributor to various titles including Wallpaper*, ModernMatter and AnOther. In September 2008 he co-founded bi-annual lifestyle publication b Magazine, editing the title until its sixth and final issue in November 2012. He is also a consultant to brands such as Burberry, MARTIOTESTINO+, Kenzo, Paul Smith and Sunspel.
Why do so many countries across the world have such a strong relationship towards how a man should look?
To understand the perceptions we have about gender and visual identity you need to go back to the beginning of time. Look at Greek statues! Look at Rome! Egypt! All over the world I think that humanity has plateaued in terms of how we seen men and women. The status quo of both genders is still very traditional, despite what a metropolitan bubble like London or LA might have us believe. It is Dionysian. Men want to look strong to attract a woman. Women look for men who can protect them. This isn’t a fashionable thing to say but this factor cannot be ignored – look at the behaviour and dress of white working class men and women in the UK for example. They are vilified in the Daily Mail for being ‘macho brutes’ and ‘sluts’, but the same look is celebrated within a fashion context. We are made to laugh at the over buffed men in TOWIE but go to the British Museum and you can see what is happening. From Angola to Antwerp men and women aren’t that different.
Do you think that we still see a strict pressure upon men’s fashion?
I don’t it in my daily life. Particularly in fashion we can wear what we want to – everyone can – but that doesn’t mean that wearing what you want to is easy. Nothing is easy. In my own daily life I am rarely asked to justify my clothing decisions but it is about context. If I am going to a wedding or seeing extended family then I do think about how I will be seen. If you are asking about men in general who might work in banking or as doctors or plumbers, they’ve had more access to fashion information in the digital age and this is obviously influencing how they think about themselves in both good and bad ways. The idea that you have to wear a tailored jacket to be taken seriously is a rather outdated one but a rule that still applies in the City. The status quo of how men and women are seen and thus treated is still very archaic.
What do you see as exciting within men’s fashion today? Is there something in particular that stands out?
Not really…I don’t mean to sound jaded but things come and go. I do think the proliferation of sportswear across fashion as a whole is a bit dull as it has left a whole generation unable to assess fit or what their own bodies look like. If you wear baggy clothes, elasticated waist trousers all of the time then you loose a connection to your body. If you only ever see yourself underneath three filters and an iPhone screen, then you too are losing a grip on your actual biology. Overall today men are more comfortable to say that they like fashion, which I think is a good thing. But I don’t think everyone need care about it.
What to you symbolises the difference between European based creatives and emerging talents in Asia today?
Context. Asia is still very normative in its relationship to luxury, fashion, gender and society. The men in Hong Kong and Bangkok for example tend to favour darker colours, a minimalism that has swept over the whole world thanks to anodyne lifestyle titles like Kinfolk and brands like COS. Now dressing in a minimalist way is totally commercial whereas once it used to have a cultural, intellectual status. Also the difference between Asia and Europe is practical – the weather plays a huge part too. I am currently in Hong Kong but looking at the shops around me, I could be in Birmingham. The world really isn’t that different and I think speaking about ‘Asian men’ or ‘European men’ as if they were different is a little outdated.
Do you think that there is a sense of Anglomania in East Asia today in terms of design and fashion?
Not that I have seen – I mean Alessandro Michele has a hard-on for the 19th century but then Italian style has always been very aristocratic. In Asia you are seeing a shift in focus to local brands. The ‘Made in England’ tag has lost its lustre as a generation of young designers trained in Europe return home to start up their own businesses. This is happening in the Far East and in India too. You will always have a portion of Asian men, in particular the Chinese, who are very driven by Saville Row tailoring, expensive watches and handmade shoes from Northampton but those men are in Milan, Manchester and Moscow too.
What do you think are the biggest influences on East Asian men’s fashion?
The status that certain brands can bring, if you are considering the more fashion conscious consumer then they are driven by the same things on your Instagram explore page. Supreme, Vetements, Raf.
Why do you think people see London as somewhere where they can work and design within creative industries as apposed to other European cities such as Paris or Berlin? What is the appeal?
London is a cultural mess – it is rich, it is stuffed full of conflicting ideas, colours, cultures and opinions. It is the only place for creative education. It is the only place in the world where you can eat in an Indian restaurant and be served by a Polish person who speaks French and German. It is the true definition of diverse. The British sense of eccentricity and punk is important too. We allow people to work out and then just be who they are, whereas in Paris or Berlin or even in parts of Asia, you have to prove who you are.
Do you personally have go to inspiration or motivation behind your own work or has it evolved as time goes by? What has been the biggest influence upon your own work?
I am interested in the world. I engage with ideas that I know I will disagree with. I do not exist in an echo chamber. That’s the worst thing that can happen to the creative arts.
