Of male nudity, flopping genitals and more –Rick played a Trick: Rick Owens Fall Winter 2015: Paris Menswear Fashion Week

The idea was to deconstruct and recreate the mysterious essence of male masculinity. Full-frontal “male nudity” in the world of mainstream cinema, art and to a certain extent even fashion has always been considered something outrageously X-Rated, bizarre, ugly, funny, dirty and unnatural. Yes, Rick shocked and amused lot of people, by sending three of his models in deconstructed tunics, featuring strategic peephole opening revealing the model’s genital. The humorous side of social media wasted no time to dub him as #dickowens. But, no, flopping penises were not the protagonist of the show. There was more to Rick’s collection. It was a fashion forward moment, a conversation starter (Read: social media) on why something as natural as male genital is considered a taboo. And, yes, Rick completely succeeded in his carefully thought wardrobe malfunction.

Not that the collection didn’t have any wearable pieces at all. Titled ‘Sphinx’ the flowy deconstructed yet constructed collection featured layered tunics and military style peacoats, including one with rust-stained finish, full body cable knit sweaters, drop crotch shorts, parkas and capes along with the designer’s immaculate art of padding .The interesting transformation of coats worn upside down and backwards almost created an impression of a wrap skirt – a unique drama in itself. The notorious interplay of deconstruction and reconstruction was dark yet beautiful and gave a hint of a protected mystery being revealed.

Rick played a trick, a thought provoking one, and the internet went berserk. Is this what we call double standard of our minds? A woman’s naked body in the media goes unquestioned, in spite of its hardcore objectification, but why so much of a hue and cry over few naked male genitals?

Not necessary that every garment shown on the runways has to be wearable. We might even argue and say this is not a fashion. Somewhere we either conveniently forget or are completely ignorant that Fashion is also about expressing your views and thoughts on a canvas – here the runway being a medium. From an academic perspective, we call it Fashion as a communication tool.

No matter how explicit it was, the thought provoking collection did raise a question – why so much of an outcry? What are we shocked at - our own anatomy? And as for Mr. Owens, he is a happy man today. He conveyed his message – the way he wanted to and got that extra press too.