Buchman sees little value in such arguments. If men are more objective, she countered, then women are empathetic, which can be useful in understanding the consumer. "I wear my own clothes," she said. "I have lived the life of my customer."
"This disparity is tied in with a lot of areas, not just fashion, where women have achieved less in the eyes of the world," Buchman said. "It is puzzling and troubling to me as a 1970s feminist but who knows, maybe this generation will be the one to change it all."
Fashion, unlike finance or politics, has always included some women at the top. But their visibility has not increased incrementally over the decades like other professions. In the 1920s and 1930s, there were many female designers -- Alix Gres, Elsa Schiaparelli and Chanel -- but after World War II, the big names were male -- Bill Blass, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin. Steele of FIT said the change could be attributed to the evolving role of women in society, from one of strength and independence before the war to the postwar ideal of a feminine mystique.
Likewise, the impression that gay men are more likely to succeed in fashion today, she said, is a reflection of contemporary attitudes and stereotypes.
"There are all of these unexamined and frankly invalid ideas that still seem to be bandied about," Steele said. "I think there are more likely cultural and sociopolitical explanations. But the perception that all good designers are men and that all male designers are gay, which Rudi Gernreich said 30 years ago, all gets down to the totally unprovable to the grossly homophobic."
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