Impossible not to laugh at the media furore in the last day or two over sightings of male genitalia on the runway at the Rick Owens Menswear Fall/Winter 2015 collection.
For a, fairly restrained, flavour of the media response, take a look at The Guardian: Penises on the fashion catwalk – a flesh flash too far?
Women are regularly pictured naked or half naked – on the runway, beach, all over the internet, in newspapers, you name it, female nudity’s been there – and we all take it in our stride but a penis … Shock, horror and gasps of ‘how unseemly/tacky/ugly’.
Ridiculous double standards that Rick Owens is well aware of. What better time for him to make fun of our illogical, and somewhat hypocritical, discomfort than in the high(ish) media coverage event of a menswear fashion show? And that extra media coverage is all to the good, no? As ever, Rick Owens rocks the runway with savvy impact.
Some social media wit already named it as the ‘Dick Owens Cocks’ collection. And much as I am laughing, I sincerely hope this look doesn’t get a huge take up on the high street. It does get a little chilly in Fall/Winter and not many of us – male or female – look quite as ‘appealing’ in our nakedness as models, do we?.