Rick Owens

[Shucks]

i did some googling. the hq and (main?) factory is located in chișinău - the capital of moldova in the middle of the country.





Chișinău (/ˌkɪʃɨˈnaʊ/ Romanian pronunciation: (kiʃiˈnəw); also historically referred to as Kishinev) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. It is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. According to the preliminary results of the 2014 census, the municipality of Chișinău is home to 492,894 residents. Chișinău is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova and its largest transportation hub.

[yffet]

I feel a bit guilty not knowing all that stuff about Moldavia.

Last two pages are gold.

So thank you.

[jakubtoronto]

These are great details! Will help me in my constant search for a pair of these that aren't leggings-like :)

Are the item codes different from season to season? (I can't believe I'm asking about item codes now....) Would love to know so if a pair of Moody memphis' come up, I can confirm.

Hello, I'll try and give you some more info on the Rick tags. When you look at the inside of a Aircut jean for example you will see DU14F4360-SBI, then the sizes and below 99 and BLACK INSIDE.

The "DU" is for Drkshdw while mainline will say "RU" the 14F means "Fall 14" and 4360 is a style code they use to identify the item. The SBI is the fabric code for the item and usually the S indicates stretch, for the MOODY collection SBI is stretch black inside and SBS is stretch black scrub, other options were just BS or BI without stretch. You will also see B, G or R on the tees. B is the very sheer fabric, the G is mid weight and R is the heaviest. On hoodies you will see F for Felpa, the heavier felt inside fabric. Black Inside means the color for the season and Rick changes these every season and gives new names. The 99 refers to the color code. Black is usually 09 or 99, dust is in the 70's, white are in the 10's and so on.

When buyers get a order form they have the option to do the items in which ever fabric they like (usually there is many options) and which color they like. Like a jean or a tee can be done in like 8 different fabrics and 8 different colors, same goes for denim jackets.

[stemcell]

Not important, and not to derail the Moldova conversation but I don't think this has been posted. It's recent and slightly amusing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWpCX7B6tGk

[beyondthemeans]

Don't they wanted to add Moldavia to the EU in 2017? Won't this change a lot of things for the better (not going into if it will benefit the EU, but more in the perspective of the country itself).

[Geoffrey B. Small]

joining the EU

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...apparently, you are not paying much attention to what is going on in Europe these days.

Becoming a member of the EU is becoming a kiss of death.

Just look at what it did for the Greeks. https://www.facebook.com/theguardian...3/?pnref=story

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[galia]

Unlikely
It will most probably cause a bleed out of the smartest young people in the country even larger than the one currently plaguing it + it means that the farmers will be subjected to the absurd laws the EU likes to implement, as well as put under the pressure of international seed conglomerates, thus ending one of the last hubs of traditional agricultural practices in the continent. In the current state of the EU, I don't see any reason aside from pure ideology why they would integrate Moldova, it would be detrimental both to the country and to the EU at large
It might however benefit Germany, who would be able to tap into yet another reservoir of cheap labour and compensate for a while the problems of having an old population
If anything, entering the EU would only make things worse for Moldova, perhaps not immediately, but very quickly

[sb.from.vb]

Being Italian, one of the most frustrating things about my country is its complete inability to protect and improve all the good stuff it has been given by nature or by the ingenuity of its people. This whole Made in Italy brand is massively important to the economy, yet we allow situations like that of Prato, a small Tuscan town where there's a huge Chinese community almost entirely dedicated to producing garments, often in situations that are borderline illegal, workers without visas who're not allowed to leave the factories where they work, no social security, total disrespect of safety regulations and so on (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/wo...rato.html?_r=0). Yet they can produce massive amounts of cheap Made in Italy garbage, people will read the label, buy it, and not know what's behind that 25 euros pair of jeans.

Anyways, in cases such as Rick's, when companies decide to move part of their production in cheaper countries, I always feel the consumer is more guilty than the company owners. All the stuff I own from Rick is made in Italy and I'll never even consider buying any Rick piece that was made in Moldova (besides one leather jacket I bought online for my gf, I was quite mortified when I read where it was made, but she loves it so much I really couldn't send it back ).

It's the consumer that allows companies to get away with stuff like this. They will always try to maximize their gains, no matter what: it's extremely rare that big businesses will naturally ever feel any kind of moral imperative towards ethical production. The only thing we can do is push them towards it, avoiding certain products. If there's a 1500 $ leather jacket made in Moldova, think twice before buying it. I remember all those ugly ass Prada sneakers everyone wore in Italy 10 years ago. Made in Vietnam. And I remember Mr Bertelli arguing in an interview that governments should have allowed them to stick "Made by Prada" on their clothes, rather than Made in "country X", given that Made by Prada would have been a universally recognized sign of quality. I wasn't sure if it was a bad joke of if he really could say stuff like this with a straight face.

Last thing, we're talking about Rick here, but he's not the only one doing it. What about all that Made in Morocco Dries? on the other hand, take a company like Gucci, I'll never be interested in their products, but at least they signed a declaration where they assure 100% of their stuff is entirely made in Italy. Sometimes we have not much choice (I've never seen a smartphone made in the US or made in Europe), sometimes we do, let's just think twice about how we spend our money.

[unwashed]

Anyways, in cases such as Rick's, when companies decide to move part of their production in cheaper countries, I always feel the consumer is more guilty than the company owners.

It's the consumer that allows companies to get away with stuff like this. They will always try to maximize their gains, no matter what: it's extremely rare that big businesses will naturally ever feel any kind of moral imperative towards ethical production.

When he's producing 80 euro flipflops and 122 euro socks I cannot honestly believe he isn't trying to maximize his gains. Also the whole minimalistic approach he creates does also do something with the complexity of patterns, becoming the more simple thus easier/cheaper to produce. And it might not be Rick Owens himself but maybe his shareholders forcing this direction, guess we'll never know...

[DudleyGray]

Anyways, in cases such as Rick's, when companies decide to move part of their production in cheaper countries, I always feel the consumer is more guilty than the company owners.
...
It's the consumer that allows companies to get away with stuff like this.

No, I don't buy this. Although I make every effort to buy ethically for my own conscience, it is not my responsibility as a consumer to make sure labor laws are fair. In my opinion, that is a government issue. It is everyone's responsibility as citizens to ensure fair labor laws for everyone, in that regard, but it doesn't start and end at fashion producers and consumers, we're not special in that regard. Like chocolate for example, that industry is dirty as fuck but few question it when they want a snack and they're at the convenience store.

[Faust]

No, I don't buy this. Although I make every effort to buy ethically for my own conscience, it is not my responsibility as a consumer to make sure labor laws are fair. In my opinion, that is a government issue. It is everyone's responsibility as citizens to ensure fair labor laws for everyone, in that regard, but it doesn't start and end at fashion producers and consumers, we're not special in that regard. Like chocolate for example, that industry is dirty as fuck but few question it when they want a snack and they're at the convenience store.

Most definitely. That's the real fucking problem, privatization of political issues that used to the provenance of the government. It's especially egregious in the US where all the government support for things like arts and higher education has been gutted by Republicans in the name of "freedom."

[Faust]

Last thing, we're talking about Rick here, but he's not the only one doing it. What about all that Made in Morocco Dries? on the other hand, take a company like Gucci, I'll never be interested in their products, but at least they signed a declaration where they assure 100% of their stuff is entirely made in Italy. Sometimes we have not much choice (I've never seen a smartphone made in the US or made in Europe), sometimes we do, let's just think twice about how we spend our money.

A bit OT, but:

Dries Van Noten is the only company that passes the savings onto his consumers. His clothes are noticeably cheaper. He also single-handedly supports 3,000 Indian embroiderers.

Agreed about Gucci - quality is outstanding. But are we sure Gucci is also not made by the Chinese in Italy?

So, I got to this part in Gommorah, about Angelina Jolie's white Dolce & Gabbana suit. Heartbreaking if true...

http://lifeworth.com/2007review/qtr41-2007.htm

[Geoffrey B. Small]

Gucci is not Gucci anymore

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It's more than just a few handles in "bamboo."

Gucci is not Gucci anymore. It is a Kering fully-owned subsidiary. It has been owned by the Pinault family since Tom Ford and Domenico Del Sole brought them in to save them from being taken over by LVMH after the Bahrainians at Investcorp dumped their investment at a massive profit on the stock-market with an IPO after Maurizio Gucci was suspiciously blown-up in his car while turning on the ignition (and quietly and very efficiently moved out of the way for what would become a billion dollar stock market bonanza fest). The Pinault family has been at the absolute forefront of the globalization mega-corporate move-it-out-to-the-cheapest-place movement and methodology since the beginning. They are right up there with Milton Friedman, the University of Chicago's cosa nostra gang, and WalMart, who during the 80's and 90's was their biggest competitor as they were racing across the globe to lock up their monopolies on every developing nation they could get their hands on including China... Kering is a rename of Pinault-Printemps-Auchan their previous portfolio of conglomerate holdings including one of the world's largest hyper supermarket chains (Auchan), France's biggest department stores (Printemps) and biggest electronics and music/entertainment chains (FNAC), throw in Puma as well, and you have some of the bloodiest hands in this whole worldwide slavery/consumerism/outsourcing Macbethian story. The fact that with the rename, they suddenly have pr stooges giving big interviews on the B__sh-t of Fashion (BoF) claiming that Kering, like H&M, Adidas, Nike and all the other corpscum, is suddenly totally devoted to sustainability and ethical creation these days is... well pet-food info only for the most stupid and the most uninformed patsyes among us. And that of course, is the majority of consumers these days.

Nevertheless, they are full of lies. And if you believe anything a company like Gucci or Kering tells you these days, you are mistaken at the very least, if not a fool. The stories of Gucci bags being made in illegal Chinese sweatshops all over Tuscany is old, old news among anyone living in Italy. And the "parallel" production and distribution of Italian luxury label items, especially bags and accessories is not only rampant, but fundamental in the business models of many main-line producers and brands, and has been since the 90's. If you don't see it on the major streets of Venice, Rome and Milan, or the beaches all along the Adriatic this summer- being sold by African vendors, you will find it in the booming number of brand outlet stores that are covering the country just like New Jersey or California (Dolce & Gabbana now have 10 of them in Italy alone..).

After the ridiculous scenarios and incompetence put on by the recently fired (or resigned) designer and acting CEO "couple," and massive over production and over-selling of the brand, just like LV, the Gucci business is tanking right now in the luxury market, and for good reason. And you can bet that behind those closed boardroom doors Kering is in a panic hoping that maybe either or both Bottega Veneta or Hedi Saint Laurent can make up for the lost business of their biggest volume and flagship business. After all, they are a publicly traded company and what counts more than anything else is quarterly sales and earnings growth and stock price. Nothing else, I repeat nothing else, matters. So just like food these days, if it is coming from a corporation and is packaged in a corporate box, beware.


ps If you are interested in learning more, I wrote all about this a few years ago, it's all on our SZ thread including our published interviews and essays on Many of Them and Masterpiece from Spain.


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[Law]

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Maurizio Gucci was suspiciously blown-up in his car while turning on the ignition (and quietly and very efficiently moved out of the way for what would become a billion dollar stock market bonanza fest).
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I thought he was shot dead by a hit man, in a hit which was organized by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani based on an alimony dispute? By all accounts it seems like she would fit right in at Kering: "Black Widow wants Gucci job."

[mrbeuys]

Had to check if we were still in the Rick Owens thread.
Might be good to move this (great) discussion somewhere more appropriate?