October 2, 2015 |
The Rick Owens show had me thinking about the 1978 Bill Withers song ‘Lean On Me’ which I had surreptitiously heard earlier in the day before the show. It only takes a cursory glance at #rickowens on Instagram to see why. As the collection unfolded, girls came out with other girls clinging to their backs, spread eagled across their front – like an adult papoose. Don’t go rushing out to attach your friend to you as next season’s chic new accessory because you will have missed the big point. The point was not to keep you friends (or enemies) close to you but in fact a testament to strength in women. Women can take on anything and carry the metaphorical (and literal load) with ease. The soundtrack wasn’t Bill Withers but how apt it would have been – “lean on me, when you’re not strong. And I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on”.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
