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It's no surprise that American designer Rick Owens catches headlines with his spectacular catwalk shows. So for his presentation Thursday at the Palais de Tokyo during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, people were ready for, well, something unusual.
He didn’t disappoint.
Owens went further than the mere expected surprise, (actually, can a surprise be "expected?) by breaking a taboo that won him lots of headlines.
Some went for the cautious: “Male Full Frontal Nudity in Rick Owens Show.”
Others reached for the whimsical: “Ballsy looks from Rick Owens in Paris.”
But after all, it is 2015. Most had a ball and went straight for the p-word: “Models bare their penises”; ”The Penis Comes Out on the Parisian Catwalk; “Penises are the Latest Trend in Menswear.”
Oh, and the "d-word": “Rick Owens put Flaccid D***s on the Runway.”
The flesh on show at Rick Owens menswear catwalk at Paris Men's Fashion Week Photo: Getty
The show largely included Owen’s typical and more modest drapery collection of outfits in dark colors and loose silhouettes that most critics focused on, showing extreme restraint. That's understandable given the difficulty finding much to say about the “flesh flash” robes worn by five of the models featuring peepholes displaying full frontal nudity that - unsurprisingly - caught most of the attention.
A couple of the cloaks were simply so short they didn’t hide anything.
Nearly as much flesh as cloth on parade Photo: Getty
A case of the emperor has no underwear?
“As the audience gradually realized that a taboo was being broken in front of their eyes, whispers and occasional giggles rippled down the front row like a Mexican wave," The Guardian reported. "It was a move which earned him the Instagram hashtag: #dickowens.”
The Guardian's headline? “Penises on the fashion catwalk: A flesh flash too far?”
In the world of fashion, female models routinely flash bare body parts that normally go clothed. That's not the practice during men's fashion shows and could explain why many attending Owen’s wondered at first if what they were seeing “were merely accidental dick-slips,” as GQ's reviewer commented. By the end, he realized that the jewels on display were no accident.
The controversial designer has been quoted explaining that “nudity is the most simple and primal gesture. It packs a punch. It’s powerful. It’s a straight world now. It says something about being independent. Who else can really get away with this stuff? It’s a corporate world! This was our private moment.”
Uh, ok.
What some ask now is if we're witnessing the dawn of a “free the penis” fashion wave.
