Rick Owens

[eat me]

Actually, that can definitely find it's place in the Media section of the forum.

[Teejay]

I love this idea that his models are similar in more than physical features but their choice of clothing and style as well. It does lend an army or militant feel to them. One of the first things that made me take notice to him was how odd the guys looked.

[jogu]

lol teej did u consider that a good thing or bad ? genuine curiosity here

[Teejay]

Initially I thought they were rather ugly yet simultaneously I kept staring at them. It was like an alien quality; They were markedly unattractive but possessed something "pretty" about them. I still feel this way when I marvel at runway stills. For me the male models' quirky unattractiveness is part of the appeal.
I have noticed some of the bigger named models like Cole Mohr in the shows, however, and I thought he fit right in.

[Faust]

Says a designer living in the palace in the centre of Paris. But still, he is quite right and he is an incredible phenomenon. There are several fascinating brands, like RO, often discussed here at SZ, but few have managed quite a frenzy. And I doubt it's down to "oh I just wanna be zboss and sew in my little room with no attention, I am a genuine designer with integrity" bs. Is it a brilliant PR and marketing behind RO? Is it the some magic in his clothes?..

Thanks for posting

Well, I think his humility is much more attractive than the pompousness of Karla or Tom Ford. And the line about kindness as beautiful is beautiful. And I don't think Rick's design integrity is BS.

[kunk75]

i agree, i think he is who he is.

[eat me]

oh no, don't get me wrong, I'll be the last one to say anything bad about RO :), the man is a genius. When I was talking about integrity, I meant some designers that can't really make it all that far, so they invent this "integrity concept" to try to justify the fact that their work is unappreciated.

And then there are designers who are obviously interesting, exciting and cutting edge, and yet they never quite get the major recognition (Julius outside Japan, for example, or even Ann D, although I'm not her major fan) like RO. Therefore I'm thinking about PR and marketing, not how it's the only thing there is, but how and in what ways it can and does help.

Just general thoughts. Mind always wonders :).

[cjbreed]

Motwary: Do you collect other designers' menswear?

Owens: I don't! I have this horrible feeling that I am so obsessed with trying to define my vision, even to myself, that I don't have the patience for anyone else's. Besides, I'm just not that into dressing myself. I have one outfit that I wear as a uniform. Like a servant. I think that working out is enough to satisfy my vanity completely.

well i guess he answered my question didn't he (why rick always look the same?)

and i think the humility is genuine. makes me like him even more actually...
i get the feeling he knows he's living a pimp life but he feels grateful for it and acknowledges the hard work it takes to get there and how easily it can all disappear. i think he's grounded.

[beardown]

And then there are designers who are obviously interesting, exciting and cutting edge, and yet they never quite get the major recognition (Julius outside Japan, for example, or even Ann D, although I'm not her major fan) like RO. Therefore I'm thinking about PR and marketing, not how it's the only thing there is, but how and in what ways it can and does help.

But remaining small and shunning the spotlight creates a PR all its own. Think of some of your favorite bands during the course of your life or artists or writers....the ones I have always held an immense amount of respect for are the ones who say, 'this is what I've created. If you stumble onto it and enjoy it, thank you...but I won't shove it down anyone's throat.'

I feel like Rick is genuine and grateful as well. I also think like a lot of creative masterminds, he keeps his head down and focuses on the work itself rather than the spotlight or the hoopla that can accompany something like fashion.

With interviews, he doesn't take them too seriously and sometimes leaves more questions than answers. And I think I compared that to Morrissey interviews before because he's a font of interesting references and analogies and metaphors and, again, he seems to let his work speak for him.

The more I read, the more respect I have for him as a designer without doubt. I look forward to seeing his work progress and there's this undeniable consistency but that's coupled with whatever he is exploring during that particular season. Even the stuff I don't particularly care for I find having a lot of respect for.

But like Faust said, there's this genuine beauty to how he speaks and creates and that carries through on the projects he works with somehow. Like if you'd never seen him and you drew a portrait of him based on interviews, you'd likely come up with this eloquent image of drapes and flowing lines coupled with some hard edges. His work is an extension of himself and when an artist can successfully pull that off, he has created something of substance and something that will last.

[Faust]

But like Faust said, there's this genuine beauty to how he speaks and creates and that carries through on the projects he works with somehow. Like if you'd never seen him and you drew a portrait of him based on interviews, you'd likely come up with this eloquent image of drapes and flowing lines coupled with some hard edges. His work is an extension of himself and when an artist can successfully pull that off, he has created something of substance and something that will last.

Yes, yes, exactly!!! This is the highest achievement and harder to do for a designer than for an artist, who often has much more expressive means at his disposal rather than fabric and thread.

[eat me]

The more I read, the more respect I have for him as a designer without doubt. <..> Like if you'd never seen him and you drew a portrait of him based on interviews, you'd likely come up with this eloquent image of drapes and flowing lines coupled with some hard edges. His work is an extension of himself and when an artist can successfully pull that off, he has created something of substance and something that will last.

Agree. And, eloquently put.

[mononon]

anyone have any pics of the GEO leather being worn?

[DamageX]

Which version are you looking for? There should be several in the WAYWT thread.

[MetroBulotDodo]

Mr. Owens.

It's funny. Some of the (few) complaints I hear about RO, the designer, are about his recently, more extreme runway styling, but it is always his name that comes to my mind when I think about which designers have best articulated their visions and his vision only becomes more clear season after season when I watch his runway show.

I think that the runway shows make his thought process totally transparent - there is a a well-defined logic that emerges -- or reveals itself as he continues to design. I can't stand it when designers totally transform themselves each season based on a story board or some overly literal, dumb idea, i.e., Amazonian woman arrives in New York and becomes a celebrity...what would she wear to a party?

Pfft.

On the other hand, with RO, you can see him meticulously shaping or adjusting his vision as he attempts to edge toward his platonic ideal of what beauty is. There is a extremely rational, methodical quality to his thinking as it evolves -- this is what we see on the runway -- a rationality that expresses itself absolutely sensually.

His discipline of his design process is not unlike that which is needed to sculpt one's body by working-out, nor is he unlike a sculptor who chips away slowly and at a slab of marble, inching ever closer to that idea, which eludes him just at the moment of ideal expression.

There has never been any doubt in my mind that he's a true artist (DRKSHW logos aside) and not a merchandiser, or that his is an artisan and not a hype creator. In my mind, he's become the romantic ideal of the artist/designer: I always feel a little shocked when I hear that he works with a team because I'd been imagining Michelangelo forming a sensuous David from a hard slab (*pun intended) of stone all along.

In any case, its astounding how many utterly wearable things come out of the runways shows considered to have been the most "extreme"
in their styling, or perhaps he's just really been successful at transforming the collective aesthetic by showing us thoughtful variations on his favored motifs season after season.

Have you noticed the overwhelming number of long, over-sized layered knits -- especially cardigans -- that have appeared over the last two seasons from more commercial brands like Helmut Lang even in labels targeted to appeal to the demographic of the typical American Mall (but not of the french arcade!)?

There was also a great profile of him that appeared in the New Yorker. I'll try to find it and post it here -- I think you need a password to look through the old issues...

mbd

[DamageX]

black, geo high neck, preferably fw09 version. the one that addict is wearing in the komakino pictures (that cannot be accessed anymore...) thanks!

Here you go: