The Good Kind Of Inflation At Rick Owens
Review of Rick Owens Fall 2024 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
A native son of Porterville, California, who graduated from the local Porterville high school in 1979, Rick Owens took a trip down memory lane with an invitation that reimagined his old stomping ground with a re-branded logo using a distinctive gothic-style font.
Liberating the medium from its oftentimes restrictive confines, especially when it’s comes to menswear, Owens has always remained determinedly uncompromising in his brand vision. And today that vision was heard before it was seen, as the first model entered the showspace (Rick Owens own apartment in the city, where he first started selling his collections 25 years ago) their footwear squeaked into view as voluminous inflatable boots . These boots were surprisingly approachable, realised as part of a collaboration with Central Saint Martins (where else?) alum @straytukey as he’s known on Instagram. One of the many “Utopian Creatives” from the Rick Owens community that the designer chose to collaborate with this season, in the spirit of encouraging defiance in the face of adversity. Alongside @straytukey was London-based, and improvised ‘Kiss Boot’ designer Leo Prothman, rubber gear specialist Matisse Di Maggio, Steven of Fecal Matter and Gena Marvin (who starred in a documentary on her commitment to her aesthetic in her native Russia) walked the show.
There is always a forward-thinking slant to Owens work, communicating an impossible knowing of what the future holds and what we will likely be wearing when we get there. And even though at first glance his collections may seem aggressive in its in-your-face aesthetic, there is a distinctly utopian and hopeful underpinning as if mimicking what AI would generate if it was fed a prompt to create what men might be wearing in fall 2064.
And in these volatile times of constant conflict there was also an understanding of designs which seemed to offer a complete cocooning shelter from outside forces. As volume became a mere concept to inform giant geometric quilted jackets, and long-haired fur balls. While the elongated stand-up collars on puffer jackets acted like crash barriers to protect the wearer from the onslaught which seems to come in from all sides simply navigating on a day-to-day basis.
The darkness of the outside world was also met with a lightness which shone from within Owens’ world, as exaggerated fluffy characters in shaggy jumpsuits of heavyweight felt appeared as if urban abominable snowmen roaming the city streets, ready to hit the slopes, or simply stay cozy at home. While knitted space suits made from recycled cashmere would work just as well shrouding the wearer earth-side.
THE BUZZWORDS
Bulbousness, abominable coziness, Inflationary ideas
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #38
More sculpture than garment, this embellished structure formed an impromptu cage around the model, and was more art-piece than functional fashion item, but when viewed in conjunction with the shows inflatable footwear it wasn’t much of a leap to consider how the medium can be stretched to channel new ideas.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Collection proportions are grotesque and inhuman in a howling reaction to some of the most disappointing human behaviour we will witness in our lifetime”
– Rick Owens, Creative Director, Rick Owens
THE WRAP UP
In a move not often replicated in the industry, Rick Owens reaching out to a young designer to collaborate was admirable and should be a practice that we see more of going forward, as blending the established with the emerging will make for exciting times, and can only serve to help designers reimagine or reinvent their brands, either by giving over an aspect or specific category to a young mind not tainted by commercialism.
A Rick Owens outing is never not a hot ticket, but this commentary on the state of the world today felt urgent and solutions-driven, because at a time when many need an escape, folding themselves into a oversized fur ball or quilted cocoon may be the only option for sanctuary that makes sense.
