Meet Leon Dame, The German model whose bizarre walk is breaking the internet
Leon Dame became an internet sensation after his walk at Paris Fashion Week
September 28, 2019
Meet Leon Dame, a 20-year-old German model who has become the talk of the fashion world since he stomped his way to close the Maison Margiela show at Paris Fashion Week this week.
Dressed in sky-high black patent leather boots, a black faux leather utility jacket and black leather vaguely sailor-esque hat, Dame with a look that even had Vogue editor Anna Wintour cracking a smile has become a meme sensation.
So who exactly is Leon Dame?
Dame is a student of Theatre Theory and Politics at the Freie Universität in Berlin and plays the saxophone. He even has a Tumblr page dedicated to him.
Dame who was scouted by an agent while waiting for a bus, told British Vogue before he walked out British fashion designer John Galliano told him to "Work it!"
Dame said he and Galliano work on his character when he comes in for his initial fitting. “The brief was pretty open: ‘Walk!’ It all happened when I first saw my outfit and started thinking about how to present it in the show. It started a few seasons ago when we were told to become characters. I loved that idea from the beginning and always tried to push it a bit further.”
When asked what he thought about the looks Galliano puts him in, he said, “I love all of them!”
Speaking about ‘his walk’ which sent the internet into a frenzy, Dame said he had help with it. Crediting movement director Pat Boguslawski for his choreography and revealing that he usually works on his character with Galliano ahead of his final fitting. “I loved that idea [of character building] from the beginning and always tried to push it a bit further,” he said.
The walk appeared to be an intentional move, with the military-themed collection by Galliano defined as an aggressive one — aggression “presented as a response to what Galliano feels is apathy, believing we’re no longer moved by a history that might be repeating itself”.
He said on The Memory Of… podcast, “[The collection is] about remembrance, it’s about liberation, it’s about having a voice. These people fought for you so you can vote, so use it. Make yourself heard. It’s important.”
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