Refinement and Reductionism, Rick Owens Style
Review of Rick Owens Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Weird, wonderful and wearable, Fantasy fundamentals, Discreet Opulence
That rarest of luxury’s for designers i.e. an extended moment of solitude outside of the fashion machine, is something so valued by Rick Owens and his team, that he has made it a non-negotiable. Although for him, work and wellness coincide, as his escape just so happens to be to the ‘small industrial Italian town of Concordia’ where their factory is based. Travelling light with nothing but his Rimowa carry-on (a leather-lined, bronze exterior collaboration with the luggage brand) this clarity on what matters most when it comes to ones daily wardrobe has carried through from the mens and now women’s fall 2025 collections.
The show was titled ‘Concordians’ after the town that has become an integral part of the brands story, as well as playing host to Owen’s for 5 years when he bedded down in the office to immerse himself in “the rhythm of a production schedule” that was completely new to him according to the show notes. In his isolation he referenced being able to focus on finding the ‘weird and wonderful’ and as with his men’s collection the shockingly wearable. So, shearling longline gilets, engineered knits, collaged denim, and fitted peplum wool jackets. A special mention has to go to todays sculpted scarf coats, both easeful and unexpected, they were made from wool sourced from British farms that also carried with it remnants of the natural process of production ‘the wool is cleaned through an acid free process [which allows] for flecks and field material to remain in the natural fiber’. Nodding to the high levels of sustainability also to be found within the brands processes, further elevating the fact that we should strive to get the best from our basics when building our wardrobes.
Working once again with Parisian ‘rubber mistress’ Matisse DiMaggio wearable art was created with her mille-feuille technique of rubber layers used across an ‘essential’ hoodie and high-neck boxy top that were key examples of the collections mission to perfect the very idea of “discreet opulence” for everyday dressing.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Naming the collection Concordians, I was thinking about my 22 years of travelling to our factory in this small industrial Italian town, Concordia.. to live here in a kind of studious isolation. Almost bleakness. This cloistered life seems to be what it takes to be able to focus on reaching for something weird and wonderful…
Rick Owens, Creative Director, Rick Owens
THE WRAP UP
To anyone on the outside looking in Rick Owens’ specific brand of world-building may not appear to be as approachable as it actually is, but when the parts are separated from the whole there are as many easy pieces as there are the extravagant. And womens fall 2025, like the men’s collection presented only 6 short weeks ago, was one of the designer’s more accessible, which could be put down to the fact that he was looking at drawing back and presenting a view of key basics through the lens of the brand, derived from a moment of focussing on what it is we truly need, especially in todays world.
