When Fashion Turns Political

Last week saw men's fashion week take over Paris amid chaotic urban scenes as taxi drivers violently demonstrated against the rise of Uber in the city of lights. Fashion week attendees saw themselves struggling to travel from site to site, facing heavy congestion and potential danger to their lives with car tyres being slashed and burned, bricks thrown through windows and car passengers violently pulled out of vehicles. Politics can rapidly take a turn for the worst in a country where people are quick to rise up and hail revolution.

Finally ensconced in their seats at Rick Owen's SS16 show and enjoying the relative safety of an indoors space, the audience was taken aback when a model, non-plussed, brandished a home-made political sign towards the end of the catwalk stating "Kill Angela Merkel, Not." What the model, named Jera, wished to convey exactly remains unclear; the only thing certain is that Rick Owen's show no longer revolved around the clothes. Twitter and Instagram exploded with everyone wondering if it was another provocation from the infamously controversial designer. Back in January, Owens had released models onto the catwalk with their genitals exposed, generating a social media frenzy. However, this time was not a stunt of any kind and Owens stated having punched the model as soon as he completed his walk. He told AFP after the show, "It wasn't my idea. He pulled it out and I punched him when he came backstage! He's been my male muse for the past 12 years or something and I think he just felt comfortable enough to have to do something in a show and I'm furious!"

Jera with his homemade anti-Merkel sign during Rick Owens's SS16 show in Paris

The fashion house also released an official statement saying they did not "claim responsibility for the act of protest by a model at the spring summer 2016 show," and insisting the model's behaviour was an "independent statement." Owens however, could not help but see the irony of it as his show was themed around male aggression with sleeveless vinyl and leather coats, black bikers' boots and what can only be described as 'angry' headpieces made out of unkempt hair. Let's hope that people will remember the clothes and forget the stunt. Or is it a good thing after all? Maybe it is about time that fashion took a stand in politics and used its global reach to weigh in on current matters. The Greek debt talks have been in the news for a few days now and perhaps all Jera wanted was to highlight fashion's power of 'nowness'; one can only assume. It remains true that a catwalk show is a commanding platform for global reach with its content being immediately tweeted out and transmitted the world over. The temptation to seize on that is great indeed.