The Guardian picture essay Rick Owens has a reputation for pushing boundaries and is no stranger to controversy – witness the penis-flashing show of AW15. His womenswear SS14 show, created a viral moment thanks to the live performance of step dancers in place of models. Stepping evolved in African-American colleges as a…

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…

Paris-based designer Rick Owens has been called many things in his long career. An antihero, a goth, fashion’s “prince of darkness.” He’s been labeled as such because of his proclivity for a largely noir, gray and ice-hued oeuvre, his deployment of pentagram motifs on underwear or elk antlers on furniture,…

Techno, expressive movements, lips contorted with fury and standing ovations – this is how the “Vicious” Rick Owens show can be summarized in a nutshell. We write about why this fashion spectacle caused a sensation, and who played the roles of models, in the next episode of the “Front Row” series . If,…

The Zipper Factory is proud to announce KickN2theBeat, a premiere solo performance written, choreographed and performed by acclaimed percussionist, dancer and actor LeeAnét Noble (Stomp, Drumstruck). KickN2theBeat, which has music direction by Lauretta Noble, will be presented at The Zipper Factory (336 West 37th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) One-Night…

Rick Owens thinks of himself as the classic American in Paris, mesmerized by the culture that surrounds him. So he wanted to give something back with his new collection, something from his world. But there was no way that Parisians—or anyone anywhere, for that matter—could be prepared for what Rick…

The Washington Post The dance studio’s floor, carpeted in an industrial layer of black rubber, flexed and bounced as a dozen sneaker-clad feet stomped out an unsure rhythm. “You’re going to take your hand and swing around in a circle,” choreographer LeeAnét Noble explains, as her foot — purposeful and grounded —…

Owens’ fashion shows are typically characterized by moments of performance that are inpossible to forget. For his Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Owens worked with choreographers Lauretta Malloy Noble and her daughter LeeAnet to incorporate a combination of stepping and traditional Zulu dance into the show. Casting from four sororities’ step teams (Washington Divas, Soul Steppers, The Momentums, and The…

by Alexa Combs Dieffenbach – Published on 30/03/2015 Every Paris Fashion Week ends up being known for some fleeting, viral, something-or-other. This year it was Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson working the runway as their Zoolander characters. Most years it’s Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows, but every so often, if we’re lucky,…

When the lights darkened and the chattering of the audience ceased at the recent Rick Owens fashion preview in Paris, many of the seasoned fashionistas and reporters probably expected a frail-looking army of willowy 19-year-olds to come gliding down the runway. Instead, what they got were loud, stomping, thizz-facing steppers who made a different…