Catwalk Shows That Shaped Fashion – In Pictures

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 hybrid of step dancing, cheerleading and military drill.

Owens worked with choreographers LeeAnet Noble and Lauretta Malloy Noble for the show after finding them on Youtube, and the clothes were created for each dancer and cut to accommodate movement. Classical tunics, togas, armour and sports kits provided the inspiration. Noble told Into the Gloss: “The idea was to bring stepping – something that has roots at colleges and in the streets – to a new level of high art”. Just six years ago the catwalks looked even thinner and whiter than they do now so casting mostly women of colour across a mix of body types was, dispiritingly, unprecedented. 

by Matt Fidler, Jo Jones, Lauren Cochrane,

Helen Seamons & Peter Bevan

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