Rick Owens gets young, gifted and black

PARIS (AP) It was young, gifted and black all the way during Rick Owens' spirited spring-summer 2014 Paris fashion show.

Gone were the 6-foot blond and usually white beauties who fashion insiders expect to parade mechanically down the podium.

In their place Thursday was pure energy: Four groups of nearly all-black U.S. college students, with normal, curvy bodies, and sometimes wild hair dancing in ways that seemed to cross rapper Missy Elliott's moves with those of cheerleaders.

The young women appeared as if out of the heavens from a door at the top of a 50-foot (10-meter) metal scaffold.

Glaring at the front row with angry expressions, the models produced an energy in the room that topped even Owens' last show, which featured live, swinging acrobats.

It had one normally sober English fashion editor tapping his feet and nodding head to the deafening but infectious beat.

There was one down side: The speed of the spectacle, and the fact that some of the models didn't quite fit into the clothes made it hard to judge the collection clearly.

Still, there were certainly some interesting looks among the creations, which were divided into monochrome black, beige, gray and white sections.

The black section, which featured sporty zippers and tight, structured leather paneling on tops, had some great details. One was a skirt made of baubles below a swirling, 3-D fabric panel.

The white section, too, with loose clean panels of fabric, had a sporty and futuristic vibe that matched the surreally oversized Adidas pumps.

The other looks, with beige nun-like fabric head-pieces and toga-styles, didn't fare as well.

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP