Dan Collings

AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

TONGUE’N’CHEEK

Tongue’n’Cheek is a gender-fluid knitwear collection that explores the impacts of toxic masculinity and Aotearoa’s ‘man up’ culture. The drive behind the collection was recognising Aotearoa’s disproportionately high suicide rate among the younger male demographic. Aotearoa’s society has long held the image of the ‘ideal’ man as the hunter, provider, protector and strong, physically and emotionally. These hyper-masculine ideals perceive any sign of femininity in males as weakness. Through curated graphics, from a diverse collection of male blindfolded self-portraits, Tongue’n’Cheek presents a softness to masculinity to break down the traditional view, while recognising it isn’t only males who navigate the space.

SOCIALS: @dan.knit