Fashionism: real women make the fashion world turn

Rick Owens A/W '14 catwalk show Photo: Isidore Montag

If you've never seen the most exhilarating 10-minute display of female physicality, power and energy ever introduced to a catwalk, then watch the Rick Owens' SS14 catwalk show from last September this instant.

Forgive me, if I'm telling you something you already know but instead of models, Owens cast an all-female, mostly black cast of steppers (the African-American collegiate dance teams who take their powerful, rhythmic routines from military drills, gymnastics and tap) and blew away the fashion crowd. It was the most literal evocation of the powerfully athletically spirit that has pervaded this season. I would strongly advise all women to watch it and to drag their daughters to the screen, too.

Yesterday, Owens had his AW14 show in Paris . It would have been nigh on impossible to beat the steppers. Instead, the designer followed up more quietly but with a similarly powerful message by casting his mates - his assistant Asha and the Paris boutique manager, Barbara - alongside some 'veteran' models like Hannelore Knuts and Kirsten Owen.

It went down well. "A genuinely diverse array of beauty on the catwalk… More like this please," hurrahed the Telegraph's fashion editor, Lisa Armstrong.

"Real women and - gasp - graying hair on the runway at @RickOwens. Say yay!" Tweeted the Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley.

I know the reasons designers don't do this kind of thing all the time. It's not traditional and the industry is a surprisingly conservative place. It would require more work on fittings. It would be a logistical nightmare. And then there's that thing that the clothes don't look 'as good' on a woman who is not in her teens/early 20s and sample size. Whatevs. Rick Owen and team have quashed that last one.

I guess there's also an argument that when non-formatted types star haring down the catwalk the audience will be distracted from the clothes. I'd argue back that that's a plus: the best of fashion celebrates individuality, so let's notice the individuals.

Double plus: it's kind of heart-warming seeing real women saying to hell with it and for the love of design and fashion and individuality and because Rick Owens makes their heart beat faster, have their own terrifying minute of fame up there. I also loved the friends of Meadham Kirchoff, cast in the latest show during London Fashion Week, who walked way too fast. Particularly the one who accidentally pulled down the tinsel curtain as she went. She was fab.

Real women make the fashion world turn. Without us there is no fashion. I reckon the more often that tinsel curtain can come down, the better.