A Political Parody For Our Times
Review of Rick Owens Fall 2026 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
Fashion has finally decided to get political, with statements and symbols of resistance and defiance seen at yesterdays shows. Today Rick Owens, one of the industry’s original disruptors, called in his own ‘Goon Squad’ in a thinly veiled fight again the rise of oppressive forces taking over cities and towns in the designers homeland.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Political Parody, Towers of Light
The shows title ‘Tower’ was multi-layered with meaning, to be interpreted as ‘Temple of Love, Tower of Light’ , the former statement also a reference to Owens dedicated exhibition taking place across the road from today’s show venue at the Palais Galliera. Meant as a ‘prayer for love and hope’ as the notes clarified. But towers, as the designer also acknowledged, are a symbol of enforcement. Watch towers to maintain order over an occupied area, cell towers and their harmful effects on human health or tower blocks used to house and isolate the most disadvantaged members of society.
In the development of his fall collection, like many other designers, he looked to military regalia to create the foundation of his outerwear looks. Not wanting to unnecessarily provoke his audience at a time of heightened sensitivity around military uniforms being mis-appropriated, the most outward connotations of army fatigues such as epaulettes were removed. This caused Owens to question their removal, because why should he censor himself when “the world around us is impossible to ignore”. So of course he chose chaos, but rather than a Hollywood production-sized spectacle the designer used parody to mock the powers that be through grotesque exaggeration.
In his decision to combat the collective fear we are faced with daily, he took the many symbols that are worn by those who enforce the so-called ‘law of the land’ and blew them up to comical proportions. Those aforementioned epaulettes became almost wing-like, obscuring the wearers vision. Police boots were ‘bloated and grotesquely exaggerated’ to reflect how the same characteristics can be found in the act of oppression. With each style available in a palette of cheeky names including Butch Black and Mincy Mauve! The latter name cleverly deflating the power of the Policeman’s stomp to the delicate steps of a mince! Floor-length and fringed hand-tied macrame masks, from a collaboration with Lucas Moretti, could be seen as an extreme reference to the masks worn by ICE agents in the US, and are the perfect take on what the designers Goon Squad would wear when standing their ground in protest.
The Flower Power era of the 1970s – itself a movement of anti-war activism – was a time which encouraged acts of radical love and positivity to combat police brutality. Today, the designers version, while it could never manifest as psychedelic technicolour florals for the ‘Lord of Dark Fashion’, was realised in the form of shearling and goat hide shaggy jackets. With cropped flight styles created in collaboration with London-based designer @straytukay. Displaying to the world that even though we live in fear, we need to stay soft to survive.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Challenging the rise of extreme politics across the globe, Rick Owens chose mocking and parody to disarm those who would oppress the masses. In making fun of the symbols of power the designer is no more dismissing the gravity of what is happening in the world, but instead he has chosen to use fear as a tool to fight.
