I don't really agree, I find Noctis and co. aesthetically pleasing. Their "boy band" all-black design I see as minimalist/conformist. I don't think it's fair to say all men find Gladio unappealing, just because some (most) women find the open-jacket look appealing.
As many said before regarding gameplay elements, you just can't please everyone.
The world of art would be pretty boring if it was always made to please the majority.
As a fellow artist I like to give designers and directors their artistic freedom to choose what they want to display, and Roberto Ferrari / Tabata have designed Cindy like they wanted so I totally respect it if they choose to stand their ground.
Some will like her (even females) and some won't.
Also some just won't admit liking her because they might fear to be thought as sexists.
Same goes for the main cast, personally I like their designs as a straight male.
And yet, you are guys. So the frequency by which female designs don't appeal to you is significantly slimmer. Notably Arkeband can only say, "I like the dude designs" and artsi has to acknowledge that females might not like Cindy's design while backhandedly suggesting some females won't admit to liking Cindy because they secretly fear of being thought as sexist.
Well hell, if you think that, what does it imply about Cindy's design? What do you say to the guys who think the main male cast is shounen boy band?
Designers and directors have artistic freedom. But they're not free from criticism. I won't respect them if they dare come out and say that Cindy's design isn't sexist. The male characters have the benefit of being designed with the idea that they're pals, brothers, characters, people you might want to be or respect. Cindy's design represents less of character and more of a sex object. Waving around the flag of artistic freedom doesn't change that.
It's not hard to make a female character design that both males and females find appealing. The few sketches of coveralls Cindy show how simple it can be. The problem with designing Cindy as she is right now is that it's limiting its appeal. Coveralls Cindy I can see easily drawing female tweens, teens, and above. Current Cindy, I can see easily turning away plenty of female audience who can and will dismiss the game as another hormonal male thing.
Particularly since you're in a contemporary setting where fashion is as variable as it has ever been. It's not hard! Even Capcom can do it!
"You can't please everyone" is an excuse to make male-oriented designs of female characters. If Black Widow came out with a new costume wearing what Cindy is wearing, the backlash would be intense. But the Marvel production teams don't make shitty costume designs like Cindy for their female characters, because they know they have to make a global product]. They have to
appeal to a wide audience. They got an audience large enough to make their movie a billion dollar movie because they understood that.
The Cindy character design? Doesn't understand that at all. If Final Fantasy wants to maintain and grow its sales, it has to become a global product. The designers and directors only have so much artistic freedom before their product fails.
And females? They're half the population. They're where games can go to grow the market. They're where Final Fantasy can go to grow their sales and audience. But Square Enix Japan clearly values females very little; Mobius male character gets a design change, but Cindy doesn't get any change.
This doesn't apply only to the Cindy design. The male character designs also have to have wide global appeal as well, not just to females but to males. And chances are that won't happen with Japan-centric boy-band aesthetic.
Would you say Ramza is made to appeal to male or female?
Was I talking about FFT? This is an FF15 thread.
I know the story fell short but I loved what they did for the most part, I felt like the writing struck a good balance between not being pretentious and also having that slightly Shakespearean, Ivalice tone...I'd love Ito etc to get another crack at a mainline FF and evolve XII's battle system. I mean if he was a Director on FFIX then...it's already a favorite for a lot of people. 
