Rick Owens

[hobo]

I don't think Rick's leather jackets are pre-distressed, at least to my understand of the word. It's not as though he makes an attempt to distress the leather just to appear worn, like artificial creases or tears. By washing the leather it gives it new texture and feeling, to be broken in uniquely... more of a material choice if anything.

I tend to find his smooth thin lamb leather rather cheap feeling, the thicker grained lamb he introduced for Strutter seems [to myself at least] far more worthy of the price tag.

I think that this is the crux of the matter. It depends whether you view the distressing as done for reasons of artificial aging or to add new dimensions of unusual texture.

I used to be a real denim purist and I would only ware heavy weight (sometimes 21oz) Japanese woven, raw denim jeans and it would take at least a year to wear them in but once they were worn in, they looked amazing and they were unique, distressed to the shape of my body. When I first saw Rick's jeans, I didn't like them because I thought that they were artificially aged. Then I realised that it's more about creating texture than artificial aging, so I bought a pair. Then after a year of wearing those, I realised that they are designed to age in a unique way too, which means that they evolve in the same way that my Japanese denim did, becoming unique to me. This is especially true when he uses different colour treatments over blue denim. The other example is the creases that he puts in them, at the bottom and on the thigh. I thought that these creases were to make the jeans look old, but they’re not. They are there so that as you wear and wash them (not necessarily at the same time), those creases age (develop is probably a better word) in a different way, creating an even more interesting texture. I think that exactly the same is true for the leather.

[Faust]

I think this whole argument is beside the main point - the main point being Rick's entire design philosophy. Just look at Herloom's signature. Asking Rick not to make distressed leather is like asking Schiele not to paint self-portraits.

[hobo]

^ and what he said!!!

[cabl3]

Commenting on the "break it in yourself mentality" I have to say that its hard to break from it at first. One (at least in my case) can initially bar off anything not in its "original" untempered form as "artificial" and thus deem it of having a lesser perceived value. I have to say this also goes in hand with the thought that "i'm paying top dollar for this so it better age nicely and last me 130340348 years."

That being said I agree completely with Faust...I dont see his leathers as being distressed...it's just dick leather and thats it.

[Heirloom]

He once said "The sloppiness of something dragging, and the luxury of not caring" which I think is a really beautiful approach as to how you could wear his clothes. The only way he can really inject this atmosphere of softened up, worn in and sloppy feel is if he distresses his materials.

[beardown]

I realize it's all just a simple preference for one leather to another. But the man IS guilty of offering this type of denim treatment for 2010:

Picturing him utilizing a room full of people beating on leather to create an artificial worn in look is not out of the question in my mind.

But regarding his leather, I have two pairs of boots...one from a/w09 and another from s/s07. The leather on the 07s have broken in beautifully and subtly. The leather from the new one tend to form defined cracks and splits rather than subtle folds.
I'm more than fine with a more delicate leather if it means that it doesn't break in like pleather or plastic.
Even on the newest hi-tops, the newer leather had a feeling of plastic to it. My older ones get those beautiful, subtle, supple leather folds to them and the newer ones (now sold) get those defined cracks and splits where my foot would bend.
To me, it's a clear issue of lesser quality on the footwear, at least.
I don't have anything against thicker, more rugged looking leather as long as it doesn't break in like a vinyl raincoat.

Faust, I realize that distress is part of the Rick experience and overall presentation but it's more of a question of how well it's done more than if it's there or not. I mentioned at one point how amazing some of the distress on the aircuts are and the waxed jeans...the naturally deteriorated look of age vs. the Wal Mart bleached whiskers on denim.
If he ever tries to recreate the leather jacket version of these jeans posted above, undoubtedly it would be a miserable situation for fans of Rick's leathers. That's all I'm saying.

[SHYE_POSER]

That's me.

hahahahaha!! i think i spotted you a few weeks ago also! i was walking up from old st to my gf's place. Was you rocking the shorts and the elephant boots?

i was in my luc screen print top...

when i reached the gf's i was saying.."this guy in full rick ensemble...looked f**king sick.

[Faust]

Beardown, I see what you are saying. The whole quality discussion is a sore spot for me and probably anyone who has been following fashion for a decade or more. Stuff today just doesn't compare for the most part.

[mrbeuys]

hahahahaha!! i think i spotted you a few weeks ago also! i was walking up from old st to my gf's place. Was you rocking the shorts and the elephant boots?

i was in my luc screen print top...

when i reached the gf's i was saying.."this guy in full rick ensemble...looked f**king sick.

Yup,
Guess I am easy to spot. The one drawback with the boots is that everyone looks at your feet and thinks you are
a. A Fireman on his way to a basketball game or
b. A lunatic, it's summer, wtf are you wearing?

Say hi to the lunatic when you see me next time...

[SHYE_POSER]

hahahahaha! mate we are all loons in this city! it beats the obligatory plimsol and check shirt brigade!

will say hi indeed!

[AKA*NYC]

beardown that treatment is available this season on a lot of pieces. look at the new vampire biker jacket, the sleeves on the samurai, the sold out jacket on oki-ni, etc. it's one of the nicest leathers i've seen from rick in a while. i would like to see a return to the smoother calf in he combat boots though.

edit: hat's off to beuys for rocking the e-buutz in the summer

[jamesd]

Does anyone know if the women's drkshdw jacket is available anywhere yet? (the one in the drkshdw section of the RO site -- I can't find a picture easily that I can copy and paste)

It may be in the RO gallery or LVR but I can't tell if it's exactly the same one.

Also, any guys thinking of getting this? I never have bought a women's piece but this (and really some other RO pieces) look really nice to me.

[hobo]

I realize it's all just a simple preference for one leather to another. But the man IS guilty of offering this type of denim treatment for 2010:

Picturing him utilizing a room full of people beating on leather to create an artificial worn in look is not out of the question in my mind.

But regarding his leather, I have two pairs of boots...one from a/w09 and another from s/s07. The leather on the 07s have broken in beautifully and subtly. The leather from the new one tend to form defined cracks and splits rather than subtle folds.
I'm more than fine with a more delicate leather if it means that it doesn't break in like pleather or plastic.
Even on the newest hi-tops, the newer leather had a feeling of plastic to it. My older ones get those beautiful, subtle, supple leather folds to them and the newer ones (now sold) get those defined cracks and splits where my foot would bend.
To me, it's a clear issue of lesser quality on the footwear, at least.
I don't have anything against thicker, more rugged looking leather as long as it doesn't break in like a vinyl raincoat.

Faust, I realize that distress is part of the Rick experience and overall presentation but it's more of a question of how well it's done more than if it's there or not. I mentioned at one point how amazing some of the distress on the aircuts are and the waxed jeans...the naturally deteriorated look of age vs. the Wal Mart bleached whiskers on denim.
If he ever tries to recreate the leather jacket version of these jeans posted above, undoubtedly it would be a miserable situation for fans of Rick's leathers. That's all I'm saying.

Those jeans are terrible (texture not design). To me, that is more artificial aging than interesting texture. Shameful, Rick!

As for your boots, I really don't think that what you're talking about is a leather quality issue. The cracking relates more to the treatment than the quality, although obviously, the quality is a factor in the results. The most expensive cut of skin is Cordoba, which is basically the ass of the animal. I have a pair of Augusta boots made from the best part (the centre) of this cut. The leather cracks as opposed to creasing and this is definitely deliberate (I was writing an order with Simone, when I first tried them on and he explained what would happen with them as they aged). I love them. I also have another pair of Augusta on which the hide is much thicker more supple, this one creases. They are much less expensive boots than the Cordoba ones. I love them too. I haven't seen the Rick boots that you’re talking about, but I would assume that he made a conscious decision to have a leather that cracks. It's not like he has to worry about the retail price too much!

[jcotteri]

leather that cracks doesn't sound luxurious to me.. sounds like waste..

Who want's water in their boots? excuse the simplicity of my argument but that is what counts really? Can i see pictures of this cracking please.

Also which boots did you get from ss07 Beardown?

[Chinorlz]

Hobo, what you're saying is oddly opposite to my understanding of cordovan (cordoba). Shell cordovan is the most heavy duty and densest part of the horse butt and it is certainly never supposed to crack. It is dense but still supple so it creates nice rolls and folds and even resists scuffing. They've been using it for dress shoes for quite a long time and under those circumstances it certainly doesn't crack. People would be very unhappy in that case not to mention the aesthetics of a clean dress shoe would be lost.

In my own leather sourcing, utilization and research I've found that any leather that cracks at stress/fold points instead of bends is sub-par and won't last long. Cracking means the leather is breaking and not bending so durability certainly becomes an issue then!

At the same time, I haven't seen a pair of Augustas that have cracked. The leather on the pairs that I've seen has worn nicely.

From your description hobo, it sounds like the (shell) cordovan pair is the one that creases and not cracks and the other pair is made of the lower grade leather!