Rick Owens

If there is one word I was tired of hearing from retailers and the fashion press last year, it was “basics”. The recession-beaten chorus demanded safe and simple and less expensive. Leave it to Rick Owens to send a message to those who are trying to neuter fashion. Owens has developed a reputation for selling his bread-and-butter leather jackets and jeans. In this show there was none of that. Instead, Owens sent down extreme shapes and extreme materials — crocodile leather, fur, leather, and corduroy fused together into long coats. Those who thought that such extravagance in fashion is the sole property of the runway, take note. The day after the show, over coffee, Owens said, “Of course it’s cool and theatrical to show this stuff on the runway, but it’s so much more hardcore to wear it in real life. This is the stuff I want to see people wear.”
In the first part of the show Owens continued his experiments with tailoring that he began last fall. The strong, horizontal shoulders, the nipped waist and elongated sleeves have become a part of his unique voice. Owens was pleased with the results. “I think I have finally found a factory that understands my vision of what tailoring should be,” he said. “I am very happy with the results.”