Step Up!

Step Teams Excites Paris with Rick Owens Vicious Collection during Fashion Week

Can we say dynamic! Yes. Can we say original to the bone! Yes. Can we lean forward with an outstanding collaboration of African American artistry doing what we know is possible. Yes! Fashion Week in Paris welcomed some 40 plus stepping team members from the United States who stomped their way into the imaginations of the fashion industry of Europe.  Rick Owens brought four stepping teams from from Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and New York to present his spring 2014 Collection. What better way to awaken the fashion houses of Europe than to show your latest designs on diverse bodies and in what is predominately a European-looking model driven runway. Shall we say boney looks this show was not and Owens should pat himself on the back for thinking beyond the conventional display of models and clothes? All outfits were shown with Adidas shoes and there was no falling off the runway. Original thinking that further exposes international audiences to the artistic creativity of the African American community and the stepping which continues to be developed and archived at historically black colleges and universities.  Bold and inclusive describe the action of Rick Owens adventure into sportswear and use of black art. Stomp!

Video of the event…

http://video.vogue.com/watch/rick-owens-spring-2014

For other pictures of the event….

http://necolebitchie.com/2013/09/27/video-rick-owens-runway-show-turns-into-a-step-show-during-paris-fashion-week/

Coventry R. Cowens, Freelance photographer and writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Student advisor at St. Catherine University, on the founding board of the Minnesota African American Museum and volunteer program director/Sister Cities International Coordinator with International Leadership Institute. Extensive travel resume including Africa, Central and South America, Europe and other places state side.