By Nathelie Taylor, Staff Reporter
Zumjay - Toussaint Smith Photo
RAPPER PHARREL has been caught doing it. Andre 3000 of OutKast is not afraid to do, it while many think that hip-hop artiste Cam'ron is over doing it.
Wearing the pink, that is.
The new fashion statement for men, pink, has gently extricated itself from the soft folds of the female's body and settled comfortably across taut, masculine chests, peeling away ages of cultural perceptions that this cotton candy shade is predominantly for women. Some call it the new black and guys all over the world have been shamelessly draping themselves in this delicate hue.
Cam'ron, in particular, seems to adore the colour. Actually, Cam'ron has been credited with promoting pink as a manly shade in the hardcore world of hip-hop, what with his wearing pink in videos like Hey Ma and his
fuchsia-coloured Range Rover, recently auctioned on ebay.com. It's even been reported that the artiste plans to paint his Rolls Royce and Bentley pink as well.
TIGHT GRIP ON FASHION
Naturally, this trend jumped off in Jamaica. While he may try to convince his partner otherwise, the Jamaican male always has a tight grip on the pulse of fashion. Wearing pink is no exception, as Jamaican men are proudly donning this so-called effeminate colour with as much brashness and 'rough-neck' attitude as can be mustered. From the executive office to the dancehall, pink has been showing up on the male form with increased frequency.
Thanks to stores like Collectibles and Lord and Lady, fashion conscious men can fulfil their pink-tinted desires at home. manager of Collectibles, Village Plaza, Sharon Grant, says the store carries a range of pink shirts for men in different styles and brands. These include Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Kenneth Cole, with prices ranging from $2,000 to $5,000. These high figures have seemingly not affected sales negatively.
Lord and Lady in Manor Centre also stocks pink shirts for men. Whether plain or plaid, these shirts start at $1,893 plus tax and sell well, according to manager Carlene Whittle.
STARS IN PINK
Deejays Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel are two local artistes who have been seen sporting pink-toned shirts and not looking too bad either. Actually, the colour helps to soften their 'hardcore' images, without making them look 'girlie'. Zumjay, another local deejay, is not afraid to 'rock' the pink look either. With pride, the deejay claims: "If you look at some of my videos lately, like the Steps Medley, you'll realise that I'm one of the first artistes who started the trend in Jamaica."
Zumjay's affinity for pink is partly attributed to Cam'ron. "He started to rock pink in the videos and when I went to New York last year, I saw that pink was a trend coming in ... I just knew it was a trend that was gonna rock Jamaica. Anything that rock New York, always rock Jamaica eventually," he said.
Apart from wanting to look stylish, Zumjay attaches a deeper, zodiac-related meaning to his wearing pink. "It come with my birthright. In the Africa/Ethiopian calendar, every month have a different colour. So, my month is September and the colour for September is pink," he said.
Zumjay doesn't think wearing pink lessens his masculinity. In fact, he is adamant that the colour is not restricted to any particular gender, even though he was brought up to believe that pink is strictly for females. "I wouldn't say pink is for women. God made all colours and God never write it in the Bible that pink is only for women; it's only a traditional thing. People put girl babies in pink and boy babies in blue. But every colour is for everybody. It just depends on what type of pink you wear and how you wear the pink," he said.
This is a view somewhat shared by Saint International managing director, Deiwight Peters. While he admits that he doesn't like pink as a colour for men, he concedes that what matters is how it is worn by males. Peters argues that "it's not like men are dressing up in a pink dress. Instead, they are utilising pink to highlight certain features, whether it be of a suit or anything. There are different approaches to what meanings we put to the colours that people wear."
NOT OVERDOING IT
Zumjay boasts that he utilises pink well, not overdoing it in the least. "I will wear a white shirt with pink stripes in it, or a white hat with a little pink in it, or blue jeans with a little graffiti pink on it, y'know, or even my baby pink Adidas. I mainly push baby pink though, cause the bright pink is too loud. I wouldn't come out in a whole pink suit or bright pink. But, a suit with a little accent of pink, y'know? A little touch here, a little touch there," he said.
There are a couple of entertainers though, namely DaVille and Tanto Metro, whose views on the topic are not so rosy. Both unapologetically state that they will not wear pink. Although always fashionably attired, DaVille associates pink with women and refuses to wear a pink shirt his lady bought him. "I love to see my girl in pink. I've always seen pink as a light, gentle colour and its girlie," he says with a laugh.
Tanto emphatically states that "since me a grow up, me caan remember wearing pink. That nuh right; mi nuh understand da one dey. Pink is a female ting."
Regardless, they insist they have nothing against another man wearing pink if he so desires. "Honestly, I can't really tell a man what to wear. If it suit him and him feel like him want to wear pink, that's his personal thing," say DaVille.
THE BIRTH OF MEN IN PINK
The male/pink bond is obviously thriving. But, how did our men suddenly feel comfortable wearing a once 'female-only' colour? From birth, society clearly establishes that blue is for boys and pink for girls in the way they are dressed. Even movies like Legally Blonde, which shows a perpetually 'pinked-out' Reese Witherspoon, help to suggest that pink is a colour for women, a colour that denotes a calmer, softer personality, if not all out weakness.
Seeking to explain society's new perception of this colour, Peters says: "People, I suspect, have become a little bit more mature about the definition of colour in their wardrobe... You'll find businessmen having a dash of pink in their tie because it may look good against a pale blue shirt. Does that lessen their masculinity? No. It's just a matter of their sense of style."
A man sheathed in pink seems to indicate a number of other changes, including the fact that male fashion has become classier in recent times. According to Dexter Pottinger, recently named Avant Garde Designer of the Year, There isn't so much roughness anymore. He agrees with Peters that wearing pink does not lessen a man's masculinity because fashion has gone beyond that.
So is pink in fashion and in what brand. For instance, Versace is making pink shirts for men right now and they are hot.
A DASH OF PINK
Most women don't mind seeing men in a dash of pink. Some will actually purchase pink shirts for their men, as confirmed by sales associate Kimarley Llewelyn at Lee's Sovereign Centre. Others, like Monique Murray, a postgrad student at CARIMAC, UWI, thinks every man should have at least one pink item in his wardrobe. Then there are some like marketing assistant Syretha Barr, who thinks that not every man should wear the colour.
Peters agrees that some women are attracted to men "who are adventurous in their fashion senses". Pottinger, however, explains the flip side. An insecure woman won't want to see her man in pink, cause she'll think if he's looking too good a next girl will take him away or maybe a man will be looking at him. "If she's insecure, and also from the old school, she won't like it," he said.
Regardless of all the differing views, men will be looking quite 'peachy' for a while yet, if Pottinger's prediction is anything to go by. "It will be around for a long time. You'll see male fashion getting a bit more feminine, more sexy, more attractive and softer," he said.
But he does caution: "With fashion, you never know, though."
