After yesterday's Rick Owens show for the spring-summer 2016 season at Paris Fashion Week, the foreign press was full of witticisms all night: “backpacks made of people”, “models-accessories”, “where to buy such “clothes””, etc. The occasion was a strange fashion show, during which some models carried others with the help of special straps on their costumes. Moreover, those who were carried were positioned in rather bizarre positions. Oddities are Rick Owens' specialty: just remember the story of the models' naked penises, which were observed by guests of the show along with the men's autumn-winter collection 2014-2015. Then the fashion designer said that he wanted to show a world in which there is no shame and in which it is not customary to ask “Why so small?” at the sight of the male genital organ in a “calm” state.
The fashion show with “accessory models” is another critical statement from Owens. While home-grown Internet fashion observers joked about how problematic it would be to get into such a suit public transport, the fashion designer told the press that his show was an ode to strength modern woman, a metaphor for her difficult lot. “This show is dedicated to the women's world, about which I have rather modest ideas: motherhood, sisterhood, solidarity. How a woman becomes a woman, how a woman raises a woman, and how women support each other,” Rick explained. By the way, the guests of the show didn’t even need to decipher the author’s thoughts - it was replaced by the performance of the singer Eski Mtungwazi, who throughout the catwalk repeated the song from the film “Exodus”, the words of which emphasized what was happening on the podium: “I know that with God’s help I can be strong "
Human knapsacks at Rick Owens. She ain't heavy, she's my sister. pic.twitter.com/H7pltsJpaq
— Matthew Schneier (@MatthewSchneier) October 1, 2015
You don’t have to look far for inspiration for collections or for staging a catwalk show: perhaps the whole of 2015 can be called the year of the fight against misogyny, gender stereotypes and sexual objectification - well, or at least attempts to fight, both successful and not so successful. In this field, no less is expected from fashion than from politicians and officials. This is a business: if you ignore the current needs of society, you will not sell anything. And the most mobile players understand this very well and use it with all their might: they feature transgender people in advertising campaigns, dress men in feminine clothes more actively than usual, release clothes with feminist slogans, etc.
The only question is whether social campaigns will bear fruit and whether speculation on sensitive topics will look like parody. On the one hand, the models who took part in the Rick Owens show found both the moral and physical strength to walk down the catwalk - in the era of the information society, models are no longer meek hangers, their voice is heard, and they are not obliged to unquestioningly do things that seem to them immoral. But, on the other hand, no matter how exciting yesterday’s show was, one question remains for its organizers: why were most of the strapped models fixed in such a position that photographs of the show caused a huge number of people to associate with lesbian sex in the “69” position, scandalous furniture sculptures by Allen Jones and BDSM, but not with female solidarity?
Designer Rick Owens is considered gothic and black, and prefers to call his sculptural clothing minimalist. To understand the issue, Alena Nagornaya met with Rick Owens in his Paris studio.
When he smiles, he looks like a black sphinx cat. High cheekbones, long black hair, muscular tattooed arms and a casual manner of dressing - designer Rick Owens does not look exactly younger than his age, he was born in 1961, but rather atypically.
“Who said it was disgusting, who decided what size male genitals should be and why? This is a story about liberation from the rules imposed by someone,” he says about the sensational Rick Owens men’s show fall-winter 2015/2016, in which he sent models stripped from the waist down onto the catwalk. “But also about the naturalness that connects us with nature: imagine yourself dancing with a scarf in the middle of a flowering meadow - this is a story about beauty, love, acceptance and grace.”
Against the backdrop of the incessant singing of birds outside the window, his words sound mesmerizing. “Aren’t you cold?” - Rick asks, pointing at the large open window behind me. We're talking in the press room on the second floor of the home of Owens and Michelle Lamy, his wife and muse. This mansion on Palace Bourbon Square was once built by Napoleon as a gift to one of his generals. In more late times the headquarters of the French Socialist Party was located here. The main workspaces of the brand are also located in the house of Owens and Lamy - the owners are always surrounded by close employees dressed in monochrome dresses and Rick Owens leather vests.
Rick Owens' clothes don't turn a woman into a doll. The designer rather imagines her as a priestess in sculptural robes
“Of course, I thought about the reaction I would get by showing male genitalia on display. It's no secret that I like to add drama and tension to my catwalk shows. And here I deliberately wanted to add provocation and get all this anger in response. A person is afraid of those things that are beyond his control, but at the same time accompany him throughout his life: sex, death, love - these are the sacraments that create the magic of life and serve as the deepest motives for actions. I want to believe that what I do is still important,” says the designer.
Rick Owens always looks for provocative approaches in everything, including the fashion show. At the spring-summer 2014 show, forty step dancers of non-model sizes took to the podium in dance. Employees of the Rick Owens showroom participated in the fall-winter 2014/2015 fashion show along with the models: women of different builds and of different ages appeared on the catwalk several times in the same outfits. This was followed by a scandalous male display with exposed genitals. The next women's show - autumn-winter - 2015/2016 - Rick Owens directed in a different manner. Models, including Ukrainians Irina Kravchenko and Ella Zadavysvichka, took to the catwalk in closed draped outfits, decorated with fur and embroidered with sequins. Their faces were completely covered in gold and silver, creating the effect of a living mask. “Women’s nudity has been explored so many times that I don’t even consider it as a theme for my shows, and this served as another argument in favor of men’s fashion shows,” says Rick. – I noticed that men calmly perceive nudity female body, while they themselves, when naked, feel uncomfortable. I don’t think it would be a big disappointment for anyone if we did something like that during a women’s show. But I’m glad that we managed to keep the balance.”
Despite all the provocativeness of Rick Owens' clothing shows, the designer is close to the idea of “hidden luxury.” He likes everything Hermès does for its "restraint and excellent taste" and the fact that the house never attracts attention with "cheap tricks."
Owens emphasizes that he does not create conceptual things. His concept is precisely that you should not be overly conceptual. He loves simplicity and always tries to explain his love using the example of different movements in art. “All this has already been said before me. The works of minimalist Donald Judd and the works of Baroque artists are equally valuable today. I'm just going in Judd's direction, not Da Vinci's, so to speak."
Lower and top dresses wool, leather boots, everything – Rick Owens
Rick Owens' clothes don't turn a woman into a doll. The designer rather imagines her as a priestess in sculptural robes. For the first time, the big catwalk welcomed long sweater-coats, sculptural dresses, baggy corduroy trousers and brutal leather jackets Rick Owens in February 2002, when, under the patronage of Style.com, American Vogue and its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the brand's first show took place on New York week fashion.
A year after his debut fashion show, Owens accepted an invitation to become the creative director of the old French fur fashion house Revillon (their collaboration lasted from 2003 to 2006) and moved from Los Angeles to Paris, where he presented the fall-winter 2003/2004 collection.
“By staging a show in New York, you immediately attract the attention of an international audience and get involved in a big competition. And yet, despite Owens' many successes in Los Angeles, it was this collection that marked the brand's official breakthrough on the global fashion scene - thanks to its strong, yet subtle, gothic aesthetic." - Sarah Mower, Vogue.com columnist and one of the most influential critics in the fashion world, began a review of the first Parisian fashion show of Rick Owens. She finished it, however, not so rosy: “As for the total look, it cannot be said that anything has changed in the Owens universe. The stylistic niche it occupies is more suited to a Belgian sensibility; As for the Paris debut, it took place mainly thanks to the credibility the brand had previously earned.”
Paris did not immediately accept Owens: the fashion press kept pointing out the marginality of his style. And yet he did not change himself and managed to prove the opposite. Today, Rick Owens shows are among the most anticipated at Paris Fashion Week.
"IN modern world everyone is cramped. Too many people, too much money, everything happens too fast. Therefore, it seems to me that it is impossible to repeat my path these days. My biggest aspiration has always been to be better, and my main dream is to perfect everything we have already done at Rick Owens. Creating even more beautiful and unusual things is what I strive for,” says the designer.
His draperies and asymmetry are copied by large mass-market brands, thanks to him, sports aesthetics became part of big fashion, Owens brought conceptual fashion to the mainstream, spawned many apologists for his style, created an empire of “hidden luxury” and the cult of belonging to it.
Unlike many fashion houses that are split between LVMH and Kering, Rick Owens is a successful independent brand that is not part of any of the large conglomerates and has been a part of the fashion industry apart.
“Being able to express yourself is a real luxury. My life is different from the life of those who work for big fashion houses and have to create thirty collections a year. I don’t have to explain to others what I’m going to do.” The designer's muse and wife, Michelle Lamy, played an important role in the fate of Rick Owens. She once managed a successful restaurant project in Los Angeles, but supported Owens' decision to move to Paris, sold her business and today successfully oversees a line of furs and a line of furniture in their company.
Wool underdress, wool, cotton and leather top, leather and metal sandals, all - Rick Owens
“Everything Michelle says is so wise and true,” Owens admits, “that at some point I simply stopped consulting with her about my future collections. Otherwise, I risk losing my own vision of what I do.” Of course, there is a lot of Owens in the lines that Michelle creates and with which Rick tries not to interfere. But in his work one can also feel the influence of Lamy - she has a special style in clothes and accessories, she often appears in streetstyle blogs around the world.
A few days after the show, I was invited to the private party that Rick Owens traditionally throws after the show. This time it took place in the bohemian Marais district, where the brand’s showroom had recently moved. The guests are mainly employees of the brand and its clients. At the entrance I was greeted by a security guard - the only person here not dressed in Rick Owens. Inside, no one sat at the bar: everyone was dancing and waiting for the designers. Having barely crossed the threshold, petite lamy, the tattooed-faced muse, and the athletic Owens began dancing to minimal techno. This is how the new season begins in the world of Rick Owens.
Style: Olga Yanul
Hairstyles: Ante Pažanin
Makeup: Saša Joković
Photographer's assistant: Martin Brkljaca
Stylist assistant: Ana Milin
Model: Marina Krtinic Cooper / Fox Fashion Agency / Women NY
Gratitude: Zadar region tourist board
Shocking the audience and making a real show out of every show is something that Rick Owens knows how to do like no one else. The designer presented his first catwalk collection in New York back in 2002 - he was then sponsored by Anna Wintour, who saw the future of American fashion in the fashion designer. From there, Owens moved to Paris, and since then his show has been awaited every year by representatives of the fashion industry and all those who are simply not indifferent to fashion. Each line of the fashion designer is a discussion on topical topics, a fashionable philosophical essay about the problems of society and the planet. In honor of the designer's 56th birthday, we decided to recall the 5 most unusual and grandiose shows of the Rick Owens brand, which are still talked about.
VICIOUS, spring-summer 2014
Women's collection
The women's collection, called Vicious, turned into an 11-minute performance by dancers. Aggressive and strong, they demonstrated the designer’s new line. Many critics noticed that behind the energetic performance of the dancers it was difficult to see the brand's clothes themselves. However, perhaps that was the whole point - you shouldn’t look for meaning in every product. It's just clothes.
VICIOUS, spring-summer 2014
Men's collection
On show men's collection the same year, the designer left the models alone - this time the show was staged by the musical group Winny Puhh from Estonia. The models were presented to the sounds of heavy metal new collection. What attracted the most attention were the drummers spinning on the wall. By the end, the whole group was completely hanging in the air - in the literal sense of the word.
SPHINX, autumn-winter - 2015/16
Men's collection
Perhaps the designer’s most scandalous collection occurred during this period. This time there were no concerts or performances - attention was drawn to the clothes that Rick put on the models in a non-traditional way. As a result, the cutouts on the throat ended up in the genital area of the models, who, by the way, were not wearing underwear. There is no point in describing the situation further, but what the guests of the show saw was discussed later for a very long time.
CYCLOPS, spring-summer 2016
Women's collection
In the spring-summer 2016 collection, the designer focused on feminine power. To demonstrate this, Owens sent models down the runway who were tied and strapped to other girls. So the designer told the story that all women have to bear a heavy burden - they are all responsible for raising another woman, be it a daughter or a sister. They are in solidarity and always support each other.
Animation, light laughter and shy giggles accompanied the show of the ready-to-wear collection of US designer Rick Owens for the fall-winter 2015 season. Men in long clothes took to the catwalk at the Fashion Show in Paris.
Below the waist, special slits were made in the sand-colored robes - and in such places that the audience could clearly see that the handsome men representing the Rick Owens models had absolutely nothing under their clothes. Part of his manhood even occasionally peeked out from the slits.
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Fashion editors sitting front row at fashion shows usually raise an eyebrow at the sight of nudity on the runway, but the male flesh at the Rick Owens show shocked even them.
Well, the audience was literally shaken by the emotional wave caused by the frank fashion show. After the fashion show, the popular hashtag #dickowens (loosely translated as “Owens’ member”) immediately appeared on social networks.
Let us add that naked parts of the body can often be seen at world-class fashion shows. But more often than not it's still female breast, nipples, but not male members.
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American designer Rick Owens is a very interesting person. He is 52 years old, born in California. He is the owner of his own designer label, Rick Owens, which appeared in the mid-nineties.
He was helped to start his career by his wife - the famous party girl of the 90s Michelle Lamy, who is still famous today. She sold her cabaret restaurant to launch her husband's career, and fully supports him in his business, acting as a muse and inspiration.
By the way, it is she who dictates the rules of the future fashion trends. So it is quite possible that in 10-15 years, men in clothes with slits in their “sensitive places” will appear on the streets of cities. And we won't be at all surprised by this...
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