Is Covering Your Face Fashionable?

Naoto Hirooka's masked models at Japan Fashion Week have me once again asking the question, "Am I missing something?" No, Hirooka isn't the first. (Louis Vuitton has been toying with the look for some time now with sheer and patterned surgical-style masks.) And my guess is, Hirooka won't be the last.

Here's where the question gets interesting: Is this a subversive attempt at reinvigorating the girl power movement? Or perhaps a backlash to the bird flu hysteria we were bombarded with in the recent past? Or is something more profound happening? Has the fashion pendulum swung so far to the right (with granny panties, head scarves, and heavy layers kicking g-strings and low-rise jeans to the curb) that subtlety is the new sexy, and mystery the new modus operandi?

Maybe the fashion community has tapped into something, deciding that the mantra "less is more" no longer applies. And maybe somewhere in there is a hint of nostalgia for simpler times mixed in with a broader global perspective in which women, both covered and uncovered, garner equal levels of acceptance and inclusion.

Or maybe they just want us to shut up.