Julia Nobis, the one who always looks like she couldn’t care less, who’d rather be somewhere else, doing something else, born in Sydney, Australia, with the ghostly pale skin, the big nose and strong face, walked innumerable runways this past fashion month, all the while showing us how a truly great model changes herself, time and again. 
I just found my next favorite collection, courtesy of one Mr. Dries van Noten. He artfully juxtaposed opulent gold lace and embroideries with sportswear vests, let gold ruffles peek out under grey sweatshirts and cascade down the sides of simple cotton dresses or attached gold, super-sized rosettes to the hip of an equally ruched skirt. I asked myself, why do I like this so much? Well, the idea of playing with opposite aesthetics, with the feminine and masculine, combining decadent gold leather or lace with much simpler textures and colors is immensely appealing. And van Noten wasn’t the only one who did it (although for me, in the most original and interesting way). Haider Ackermann, the grand master of gender play, used shimmering metallic fabrics on a boxy man’s jacket or slouchy shorts. Joseph Altuzarra put his model in a shimmering gold skirt and a simple white shirt. Alber Elbaz at Lanvin showed a thoroughly shimmering collection, not so much mixing the metallics with anything simpler. At Margiela, you had a heavily embelished, totally sequined gold top worn with man’s trousers. And of course, who could forget Proenza Schouler back in New York and their beautiful gold and chrome dresses and shimmery delicate pleated skirts. What do you think, do you like this as much as I do?
DRIES VAN NOTEN
HAIDER ACKERMANN
ALTUZARRA
LANVIN
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA
PROENZA SCHOULER
The next time you want to watch a couple of cute cat videos on YouTube, watch this instead. I promise, every second of it is worth your time. What a powerful, beautiful and really strong message of female empowerment. I’m in friggin’ awe. Mr. Owens, thank you for having taken the risk. And sorry that these kind of things are still considered a risk nowadays.
There has been much debate about the lack of racial and body diversity during fashion week, with designers such as Céline, Dior and many more employing none or only one or two models of colour for their runway shows.
In the meantime, there is Rick Owens. Always unconventional and showing the unexpected, he hired a competitive step dance team from the US to model his collection. And of course, being a step team, they didn’t strut down the runway – no, they pounded it to the ground, step dancing, cheerleading, military drilling and mean faces making.
So, while the discussion about diversity continues to rage, Owens lets an almost all black, full-figured team of women rock his collection, making you forget that allegedly, clothes only look good on extra thin, extra young and extra white models. Or, in his own words: “We’re rejecting conventional beauty, creating our own beauty.” Amen to that.
Check out some videos here.
