When Christopher Columbus stepped foot in America, the colour he was wearing was blue and it has ever since dominated the men’s wardrobe, given them their fashion direction and their comfort. One can say it has even made them lazy and innovative at the same time. Blue still rules roost. It’s surprising how men find comfort in it and even if they venture out to try something different, they will most probably find their trail coming back to their comfort. Was it always like that? Men’s fashion and not just their relationship with blue? Was it always the comfort of safety they dwelled in or was there ever an era of effort where safety was taken to the edge. If we look to the period of aristocracy (when societies revolved around it) in Europe or its equivalent in Asia or even closer to home in South Asia, men’s fashion pushed the boundaries. Their attire was fashioned for the occasion. Each occasion demanded a fashion expression and men and women responded to that. In fact, atop society’s hierarchical ladder would stand a man or woman who would be required to carry on themselves garments fashioned for that occasion, and that would also serve as an aspiration for others to follow. This is what we call, in today’s context, ‘ceremonial’. Well it wasn’t ceremonial then, it was just occasion led. Maybe, we have stepped down from that environment, but have the occasions really changed? Society still throws at us the same occasions of engagements which give us the opportunities to dress for them, not dress-up but dress for occasion. What has changed? So what has changed, is it the complexity of our existence within society? Is it the technology or work, or have we simply become lazy with a ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude? There are enough shortcuts which are visible around us and some of them have been adopted and incarnated as style statements. In fact, the success of some personalities gave credibility to what they were wearing, which moved beyond fashion to style. Steve Jobs; black long sleeved-tee, with blue denims with New Balance sneakers became his style statement, but it didn’t push fashion boundaries, it in fact brought it down a few notches. Tom Ford with his black suit, white pocket square and, for the longest time, with his crisp white shirt unbuttoned on top to expose his chest, upgraded the semi-formal look, which is now the norm at corporate board rooms, where with alarming regularity, we see a scarcity of ties. But this was easy for men to follow; just remove the tie. I have enjoyed what Thom Browne has done with restructured reduced silhouettes for men, yes it did require an evolved society to accept it and support it. In another society, Yohji Yamamoto has maintained his garment’s fluid, structured silhouettes. If we pull back, we have seen that over the years, there have been icons who have pushed men’s fashion to keep pace with the very industry that cries out change, though they have been few and far between. I would count Former Fiat Chairman Gianni Agnelli, Steve McQueen, and more recently David Beckham and a few others on that list. Not to say that men haven’t joined the ranks in the last five years; it’s been far more than ever before. In fact, what is interesting is that men have managed to create uniform looks for the industry they operate in; you can imagine an investment banker, to a creative in black, to a software personality in Silicon Valley; this uniform approach has to do a with not wanting to spend that extra time to dress or the reluctance to make that decision. We need more directional menswear designers and style icons to have men push their fashion boundaries just a bit so that society expresses well through a fashioned garment. Why should there be a shortcut taken in a personal expression that celebrates an individual in an environment? Men out there, stop hiding behind your ‘blues’.   By Ajai Vir Singh Founder and President, Colombo Fashion Week and winner of the Global Effie, Ajai Vir Singh is a visionary who has fathered the fashion movement in Sri Lanka.