Have Rick Owens' penis peepholes taken things a step too far?

Assistant editor Maisie Skidmore chimes in on the debate about the presence of full-frontal male nudity in Rick Owens’ AW15 collection which showed in Paris a few days ago. Do you think penises on the catwalk are a step too far? Leave your comments below!

It’s been a full five days now since Rick Owens showed his AW15 menswear collection Sphinx in Paris, and yet the media are still obsessing over the show’s least prominent but most-celebrated stars; a succession of models with their penises dangling freely, just-about-visible through crotch-level portholes in the garments. Hell, we’re up there with the worst of them, but when the standout moment in weeks of fashion shows is a couple of willies, who can resist joining in?

Rick’s own take on the design decision was delightfully uncomplicated. "Boys with their dicks out is such a simple, primal, childish gesture,” he explained to Style.com. "Who else can really get away with this stuff? It’s a corporate world! This was our private moment.”

And while “private” might be a tricky word to use in describing such a public sphere, the penises’ role was a minor one – so much so that onlookers barely noticed them peeping through the portholes. In fact, the uproar didn’t truly begin until the show had ended, and carefully positioned photographers shooting each look had examined their shots. “Documentary proof of a free-falling penis at Rick Owens,” The Independent fashion editor Alexander Fury tweeted shortly afterwards. “Looks like a turkey dinosaur.”

Rick has never been one to shy away from controversy. He famously once took often-nude performance artist, musician and filmmaker Kembra Pfahler as his muse, last year he collaborated with a fetish photographer on his AW14 lookbook, and he showed his SS14 collection on a troupe of female step dancers in an innovative display of non-conformity.

In an industry which takes female sexuality as its bread and butter, I’d argue that briefly exposing male genitalia in a catwalk context is comparatively moderate. Susie Bubble, in her show report for Dazed, agreed. “There wasn’t anything overt about Owens’ choice to use full frontal nudity on the catwalk. You caught little glimpses from under the curved hemlines and strategically placed in the toga-esque gowns, but nothing was in yer face.”

The difficulty arrives when this moment which feels relatively at home in the mythical realm of the catwalk comes into contact with the outside world. Here, fashion collections translate into real-world trends. “What exactly happens in the World Of Rick Owens?” Warren Beckett reported for The Independent. “Well apparently men go commando in ponchos and tunics cut so high at the front that you can see their genitals. Depending on the particular style you might even see a penis. That’s right, a penis.” A penis! Breasts, we are used to. Penises – and flaccid, desexualised, uncovered penises at that – we are not.

But as Rick elucidated to Womenswear Daily, “We all know that runway looks aren’t meant to be taken literally. They illustrate an ethos.” He continued, “I pass classical marble statues of nude and draped figures in the park every day, and they are a vision of sensuality — yes, but also of grace and freedom. As a participant in one of our most progressive aesthetic arenas, am I not allowed to use this imagery?”

Ultimately, he explained, this was a decision orchestrated by love. “I would like to present a utopian world of grace free of fear and shame.” The sooner we become at home with that, the better.