Photo: Courtesy of AnOther Magazine.When designer Rick Owens ditched traditional models and showed his spring '14 collection on a step team instead, it was a watershed moment for fashion. The badass performers of all races, shapes, and sizes neatly side-stepped the usual, token-y nods toward runway diversity in favor of a full-on, real-woman runway takeover. That Owens did it at Paris Fashion Week, the epicenter of old-guard high fashion, made it even more of a gauntlet throwdown.
It was a brilliant, buzzy move that left us wondering if other designers would follow suit. And, although runways aren't teeming with boundary-breaking performance pieces just yet, AnOther Magazine has beautifully immortalized the spirit of Owens' show in its latest editorial.
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Photographed by Matthew Stone and styled by Katie Shillingford, the editorial features street-cast models with the same diversity and fearless attitude that electrified the Rick Owens show. But, dressed in draped garments and under soft, Vermeer lighting, these women are just as much a vision of dignity as power. Click on for another (possibly NSFW) glimpse at this arresting shoot.
Photo: Courtesy of AnOther Magazine."I think that there is space for positive and empowering nude imagery of women," explains Stone. "[This] shoot represents a sincere effort to explore that potential."
Click over to AnOther Magazine for the full editorial and for more of Stone and Shillingford's insightful interview. In fashion, where tokenism is often substituted for true diversity, it's wonderful to see typically marginalized bodies depicted in a way that's beautiful and powerful, not patronizing. (AnOther Magazine)
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