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Show Report

Show Report: Rick Owens S/S 14 Menswear

by Lou Stoppard on 27 June 2013

Lou Stoppard reports on the Rick Owens S/S 14 menswear show.

Lou Stoppard reports on the Rick Owens S/S 14 menswear show.

Fashion has an unlikely new star. They're called Winny Puhh and they are an Estonian hardcore band and Eurovision reject. It's hardly the pedigree one would expect from a group that just stole the limelight at Paris Fashion Week after performing at Rick Owens' S/S 14 show, but  Owens - their new biggest fan - is good at taking taste and flipping it on its head. He's also good at creating good theatre, and this musical addition to the show sure made for excellent viewing. From the hairy masks sported by each member of the group to the vertical spinning platform that held both drummers and resembled some kind of medieval torture device, this was part Macbeth witches scene and part pagan ritual - terrifying and brilliant at the same time.

The clothes has energy too. Models practically ran down the runway creating a constant blur of black that occasionally, but only very occasionally, pulled our focus from the Puhh antics. Still that speed makes sense given the sporty undertone of this collection, which was enchanted by the brand-less trainers worn by models, a new collaboration with Adidas.

So was Owens trying to scare us? 'I was hoping to,' he explained after the show. 'Isn't it a delight to feel a little bit shocked? I love aggression, but I love aggression in a very friendly cheerful way and I never want anything to be mean-spirited. But we all love menace, we all love the evil queens of the Disney films and I'm the evil queen of Paris.'

Too true - Owens loves to monopolise the limelight and shake-up proceedings, just like a good Disney villain. So does it matter that we all had our iPhones in the air in the hope of capturing a shot of the Winny Puhh musicians as they hung from the ceiling upside down from one foot, rather than the actual S/S 14 collection? Not really. What's the point of a fashion show if not too create a sense of the spirit of the house? This was about more than clothes, it was pure Rick Owens attitude straight up.

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