Described as a “relentless dark horse”, Sheffield born Declan Crofts, set up his own campaign to raise awareness of toxic masculinity. Using his patisserie skills, Declan created a Chanel themed petit gateau to ice away the gender conformities society places on men and women, in a hope of opening up discussion about toxic masculinity in The Steel City.
Twenty-one-year-old award winning pastry chef, Declan Crofts, has created a unique pastry design to raise awareness of toxic masculinity. He has distributed the Chanel themed petit gateau to people across Sheffield.
Declan created the campaign, after he discovered that Chanel did not have a men’s collection. At the time, he was shopping for a special birthday treat for his twenty-first birthday and struggled to find male Chanel couture. After further investigation online, forums revealed opinions that Chanel was too ‘feminine’ and shouldn’t be worn by men.
This morning, Declan dropped off one of the Chanel pastries at the Exposed Office. He was dressed head to toe in a purple sparkly suit – he even wore a matching mask.
He told Exposed about his aims for the campaign: “In my life I have received a lot of hate for numerous things. From my weight and looks, to not being ‘masculine’ enough, it affects every part of my life.
“I want to help create a world where boys and girls don’t have to grow up under the expectations of what it means to be a man or a woman.”
Originally, Declan wanted to create a Chanel themed entremets that mirrored the flavours of the Chanel No.5 Eau de Parfum. After posting a photo on his Instagram on the 5 May 2021, which marked the 100th anniversary of the Chanel scent, a local sneaker artist, Luke Jones, joined his campaign and designed a pair of shoes to match his Chanel pastry designs. From this, Declan expanded his pastry campaign ideas and created his Chanel petit gateau. He also had a photoshoot with the sneaker designer.
Declan continued: “This is such a special little project for me because it combines the two things I love the most – food and fashion.”
Over the last few years, Declan has won many awards for his pastry creations. In 2019, he became a Le Cordon Bleu semi-finalist for the Julia Childs Scholarship and last year started working at the Michelin listed Sheffield restaurant, Rafters.
To look at more of Declan’s pastry creations, check out his Instagram @wannabepastrycook.
The shoes were design and hand painted by Luke Jones. Find more of his designs on Instagram @sketch_customs
