RICK OWENS RAISES EYEBROWS BY REPLACING TRADITIONAL MODELS WITH BLACK STEP TEAM IN PARIS FASHION WEEK SS14 PRESENTATION

There's been a lot of talk going on about designer Rick Owens SS'14 presentation during Paris Fashion Week last Thursday, where he replaced the traditional runway models with a predominately black step team.

While some are calling the Owens presentation Haute Couture History, others found it to be offensive and although Owens has repeatedly said that he is inspired by the urban culture, many wonder if including the black steppers was done out of admiration or because of the current controversy of diversity on the runway. Was Owens sincere with his presentation or was it just for show? 

Callie Beusman of Jezebel.com describes, Rick Owens’ SS14 collection as “…so simple, arresting, and breathtaking that it’s made everything else this month look tepid, try-hard and a bit preposterous.”  But she too questions Owens motives by saying, "are these designers serious about promoting diversity, or are they co-opting fashion’s egregious race problem to garner attention and seem edgy? Are they trying to make diverse runways the norm or merely trying to make them into a spectacle?”

I too am a bit curious about Owens intentions but for the time being I'm choosing to be thankful that designers such as Owens and Philipp Plein, who cast ONLY black models in his spring 2014 show, are embracing women of color on the runway. 

As far as Owens' presentation is concerned, I loved how perfectly insync and precise the movements were. I loved the varying sizes of the dancers/models. Many, if not all the dancers are considered 'plus size' by industry standards (THAT'S A STATEMENT IN AND OF ITS SELF!) and despite personal feelings, the Owens presentation defintely made history.

Overall I truly enjoyed the performance and am in full support however, I didn't appreciate the mean mugging and wild hair worn by the dancers. In step, the mean mug/scowl look is called 'grit face' and is used to intimidate the competition. According to Shantell Richardson, one of the steppers, Owens said, "'I want you guys to be strong and fierce.’ He did his research, and he said, ‘I really like that, it’s got a real intense energy to it.’ It was about this intense energy, not about us being angry black women." 

I get it. I understand the desire to have these women look strong and fierce however, the 'grit face' and wild hair was a little too much. I think they should've let their movements do the talking. Their presence and their steps should've been the strength and the intenseness. I know the intention was not to portray the steppers as angry black women however unfortunately that's what's happened. Now, when you look at the pictures and video from the show, if you don't understand the culture behind step it looks like a bunch of wild angry black women in designer clothes. For those who understand the culture Owens show was epic but for those who don't (which I believe is a large part of the population) the 'grit' face was too much. 

All-in-all I applaud Owens and the steppers for their performance. It has defintely continued the conversation of diversity on the runway and was a presentation that will go down in fashion history. 

As for Beusman's question, "are [designers] trying to make diverse runways the norm or merely trying to make them into a spectacle?” Well, I guess that's all depends on what they choose to do next season. Will Owens and other designers include more models of color or fall back to the 'norm' of casting predominately white? Only time will tell. 

*I know it may be a sticky subject for some but I encourage you to leave a comment and share your thoughts. ALL opinions are welcome. :)

XX BRYTANI SIERRA