Margiela Model Leon Dame Just Gave Paris Fashion Week Its Fiercest Walk
You don’t need a giant set or a celebrity appearance to enliven Paris Fashion Week—sometimes all it takes is a truly great walk. This morning, at Maison Margiela’s Spring 2020 coed collection, John Galliano’s cast stomped through the Grand Palais with a fierce sense of purpose, their tweed utility jackets and side caps gave them an air of military authority. And no one did this better than Leon Dame, the German model whose very expressive strut closed the show. A zigzagging waggle of hips that was at once seductive and sinister, Dame’s walk had the entire crowd reaching for its iPhone.
As spontaneous as it seemed, the strut took a bit of advance planning. “I already had something on my mind, but I worked it out during the rehearsals with Pat Boguslawski the night before the show,” shared Dame, who enlisted the famed choreographer and movement director to help bring the concept to life.
The Margiela runway has long been a showcase for models willing to go above and beyond. The majesty of the clothing allows for a degree of creative freedom when it comes to the presentation. Who can forget Aneta Pajak’s now-infamous hunched stomp during Fall 2015, or Bella Hadid’s mesmerizing liquid gold moment at Fall 2017’s couture show? Dame, who already ranks among the world’s leading male models—having worked with everyone from Acne Studios to Valentino—understood the opportunity at hand. When he headed out on the runway, he did so with a classic supermodel adage in mind: “Work it,” he told himself. If the crowd’s reaction is anything to go by, he did exactly that.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
