Inhuman behavior is trending: the conflict in Gaza continues and, on Saturday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the notion of establishing a Palestinian state. Today, Netanyahu also rejected Hamas' conditions for ending the war (complete Israeli withdrawal and maintaining Hamas in power in Gaza). Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its two-year mark, and migration remains a challenge for European governments that seem more focused on repressions and deportations than on finding solutions.
Individual acts of inhumanity also persist: a man charged with murdering his pregnant partner last year in Italy claimed at the opening of his trial in Milan this week that he was driven by something "inexplicable and inhuman".
Fashion designer Rick Owens responded to the inhuman impulses governing our lives and world by showcasing on Thursday in Paris a dehumanizing silhouette for his A/W 24 menswear collection. Models donned elongated designs (including jackets and pants made by latex designer Matisse Di Maggio) and walked in inflatable pull-on boots that in some cases impaired their steps as they rubbed against each other.
The boots were by London-based South African Australian, Finnish-born designer Straytukay (in recent years, Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai - in short Harri - sparked a sort of trend for inflatable designs after his inflatable pants that were part of his graduate collection at London College of Fashion's 2020 MA degree show went viral; his designs were slightly reminiscent of the costumes in New Order's "True Faith" video that in turn was inspired by Oskar Schlemmer...).
The collection reflects a stark portrayal of a world veering towards mutants - half humans, half insects - a departure from the empowering comic book-inspired alien/insect heroines of Mugler to a malevolent, frightening, and dangerous realm.
At times these elongated monsters donned wool, furry or leather jumpsuits; quite often they favoured ample jackets or cropped puffers that seemed based on precise geometrical forms (was Malevich a reference, maybe?) with constructions that jutted out from the shoulders and elongated vertically, creating a new silhouette of power, but also destabilizing the tailored precision that has been relaunched during the latest menswear shows, especially in Milan. The insect metaphor was reinforced by oversized jumpers, their long sleeves covering the hands of the models that walked like a praying mantis.
There were more examples along the scary/monster line with ample jackets that wouldn't have looked out of place in the wardrobe of Dr Frankenstein's monster, massive cardigans and shearing and long-haired goat fur loops that engulfed the models.
In his press release, the designer highlighted how proportions of his fall menswear "grotesque and inhuman in a howling reaction to some of the most disappointing human behavior we will witness in our lifetime."
The title of the show - "Porterville" (replicated also on some of the designs) - referenced the intolerances Owens faced as a child in his hometown in California.
To restore a bit of humanity he scaled-back the show: as a grand event didn't look respectful in lieu of what's going on in the world, the show took place in the designer's home on the Place du Palais Bourbon (in the former office of Francois Mitterand's Socialist Party), conceived as a sanctuary and a haven for anti-intolerance.
To emphasize anti-intolerance, Russian radical trans artist, Gena Marvin, protagonist of the documentary "Queendom" (directed by Agniia Galdanova) modelled some of the designs (third set of images in this post).
In November last year Russia's supreme court deemed the "international LGBT public movement" as extremist, and, since then, quite a few LGBTQ+ friendly clubs and venues were raided by the police in Moscow.
Gena has learnt to subvert the establishment by walking around the streets of Moscow in drag, often wearing just body paint, platform boots and barbed wire (her encounter with a soldier is hilarious with Gena towering upon him like an alien that has just landed while he tells her, "Your overtly provocative and destructive appearance can lead to incidents.").
The final abstract constructions trapping the models' bodies in Rick Owens' collection actually evoked some of Gena's costumes that she makes from junk and tape.
Not everything on the runway was dehumanizing, though: the last puffers in the collection were massive leather constructions that called to mind armchairs. Was this an anticipation of Milan Design Week with its multiple collaborations between fashion designers and interior design companies? Time will tell.
As for you, readers, opt for a dehumanizing effect if you must, but hold onto your humanity - it's a precious, invaluable and irreplaceable essence.
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