AnOther Magazine (London)- LeeAnet Noble, Choreographer for Rick Owens S/S14

Sometimes the simplest things can seem so revolutionary. While the start of the S/S14 season was dominated by a social media campaign by the legendary model Iman calling for more diversity on the runway; Rick Owens put on a breathtaking spectacle that went far beyond fashion to smash our preconceived notions about what constitutes beauty. Fresh from exposing Estonian black metal band Winny Puhh to the world for his menswear show, this time around Owens brought a new obsession to light: the dance phenomenon of stepping. Calling the show Vicious, Owens worked with choreographers, LeeAnet Noble and her mother, Lauretta, who led four step teams from Washington, New York and Atlanta (The Washington Divas, Soul Steppers, Momentum and The Zetas) through a synchronised dance routine that, by the end of the exhilarating 11:24 minutes, felt like a visceral punch to the solar plexus. Clad in Owen’s signature draped and wrapped leather and jersey and shod in trainers that were a collaboration with Adidas, the forty dancers put on their best ‘grit face’ and defiant attitude, chest thumping and stomping in an awe-inspiring display of female strength and sisterhood, in the process transforming his monastic sportswear into something altogether more primal. “I was thinking about teams and I was thinking about bonding together can create something a little bit sinister,” said Owens backstage. “When you think of teamwork, there’s always some sort of a dark side.”

by Kin Woo

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