Rick Owens Men's SS12 Paris

[interest1]

hesitantly chiming in from a female pov.
aside from the last two black looks posted by eternal (which frankly, are incredibly strong) i have trouble accepting that this will hit a chord with a large proportion of men. to me, men are more resistant to standing out on this grand a scale, but great runway fashion often provokes a hard direction forward and eventually distills down to mainstream, in that sense this is a bold, interesting direction.
i found it quite humorous that mr. owens came out in shorts in the end too.
i might buy a skirt or two though.

I think whether this collection will hit a chord with a large proportion of men is irrelevant at this point.

Rick's at a place now where he can put skirts on the men's runway if he wants to. No, of course they won't outsell his pants, his shorts, his anything, for that matter – nor is anyone really expecting them to. His bread & butter are (and will always be) the leathers and staple knits he's built his brand on for nearly the past 15 years. If he wants to indulge his whims by making certain things that appeal first & foremost to himself, it certainly won't be of any detriment to either his image, or his business.

You don't come out of the gate showing floor-length skirts on men and get taken seriously.
It's something you earn. I mean, ponder this: the man is responsible for putting more straight men in high heels – most of whom would otherwise NEVER so much as entertain the thought had they not tasted Rick's very special brand of Kool-Aid. That's more than just influence. That's called fucking power. And he has it.

(And more power to him)



.

[rider]

missed point... sorry if this didnt get across. hitting a chord of mass appeal takes a hind [skirt] seat to the fact that he wants to express whatever he darn well pleases. he's there, i think that is an incredible achievement.

there is a short scene in "the devil wears prada" where meryl streep is choosing garments for an editiorial that illustrates my train of thought cited above. do you know which one i mean?

[interest1]

^ gotcha.

And no, don't know the scene – find a clip & post it!
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[interest1]

.
Oh, and..

Dear Rick,
Please don't do a perfume. Know when to stop.
Unless it smells like hot, sweaty leather.
Then do a perfume.
♥
.

[cjbreed]

...i'm still perplexed by some of the people lambasting this collection because it's not manly or whatever - since when is that the main concern to a lot of us on here? like eat me said, it's comments like those that are just disappointing....

hmmm....i think i'd like to draw a distinction here as there appears to be a good bit of misunderstanding going on.

i think that it is possible to appreciate the collection as design objects and as a creative statement, and to respect ricks evolution and integrity as a designer, even with the introduction of sunglasses and perfume. but at the same time be disappointed on a personal level because the garments don't suit me. its not my style and doesn't suit my personality so i am disappointed. thats all.

about the sunglasses and perfume - i especially admire his ability to do this without sacrificing his reputation. that is impossible to pull off unless you have proven yourself to be a man of integrity and vision and built an identity with loyal followers. rick is one of very few to have done this.

[rider]

this is the best i can do, wont watch the vid to find the clip. painful.

hoping its not to OT and clarifies my train of thought, howbeit my obtuse logic methods.

In a key scene, Miranda is presiding over her entourage, trying to select just the right belt to accessorize the cover ensemble for next month's magazine. They are passionately deliberating between two belts, which, to the untrained eye, look almost identical. Her fashion-averse assistant Andy stumbles into the gathering. Growing impatient, and with a flippant disdain for fashion, she refers to the rack of designs merely as "stuff." Miranda, in that calm, satanic stare that Streep nailed so well, pauses and quietly says:

"'Stuff'? Oh, OK. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet, and you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue. It's not turquoise. It's actually cerulean. You're also blindly unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St. Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs, so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry, when, in fact, you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room ... from a pile of 'stuff.'"

In this fabulous soliloquy, Miranda articulates what we'll call the "trickle-down" theory of culture. Many spheres of cultural production—such as haute couture in the arcane parlors of Paris and Milan—seem to be merely the abstractions of the bourgeoisie—flights of fancy for the well heeled who have the leisure for such play and silliness. But what does that have to do with us, down here, on the ground, schlepping to work on Monday mornings or going to worship on Sunday mornings? It has more to do with you than you might expect, because what holds true for fashion holds true for philosophy.

The same trickle-down principle (although nothing new) is the idea that current philosophical currents—which might seem arcane, abstract and strange to those of us just trying to scrape together bus fare—have an impact on the shape of cultural practices. This is perhaps crystallized in discussions about "postmodernism." Phenomena often described as "postmodern" have a genealogy, and they track back to key shifts in philosophical thinking over the past half-century.

Just as what shows up at T.J. Maxx has more to do with French fashion than we might think, so too what's discussed by the likes of Derrida and Foucault might be affecting our milieu more than we realize. If we are going to engage culture, and make culture, we will find it helpful not just to wait for things to trickle down, but to go looking for them at the source.

[SHYE_POSER]

Thought i would just throw this into "men in full length dresses" argument (ok its a long knit sweater dress but u get the jist)

AW2006

[moderninc2010]

Thought i would just throw this into "men in full length dresses" argument (ok its a long knit sweater dress but u get the jist)

AW2006

Nice flashback shot from 2006, the look was forward and well executed

[skinfade]

This is a pretty nice summer collection.... The themes are coming from futuristic and avant garde. It is very ineresting collection. Those tunic reminds me a picture of Klimt. I love the new grey from Rick. It is balance between dust and darkshawdo. It is slightly soft but it's good for summer. This collection may be not too wearable but it's good to see Rick pushing his design further.

[creature atelier]

As I do not post often I thought I would have to in this regard as people's reaction to this collection I found incredibly myopic. Rick should title this one "Skirts" because that’s all I keep hearing.

Ok this look may not be for everyone, but its something that can be appreciated on so may level.

It's an evolution of the brand and it was only a matter of time before this was going to happen, and I am glad it has, and there are Rick clients that will willingly embrace this look.

Thnx for posting that pic Shy because as I am arguing with a friend about this collection I immediately thought Dustulator.

This is a clear example of how Rick is evolving the brand into modernity. He is sort of light years ahead so to speak. I love it not only because of it's beauty but because Rick is just like fuck it I’m gonna do what I want and give you something that no one else will. And people are wanting it to be more aggressive, but isn't that what we have Julius for?
Eat Me you pretty much summed it up for me.
You know fashion has to have some sort of provocation and he is doing it such as wonderful way. I remember when Hedi Simane was first designing it made people uncomfortable, "no one will wear it" "the boys are too skinny" etc...
I am happy that Mr Owens has put himself in a vulnerable position and gave us another tribal offering, I am certainly refreshed!!!

[trentk]

Video is up on owens' website.

I still don't have the balls to go for the man dress, robe, kaftan, or whatever you want to call it. However, it looks much less feminine, more spiritual and cultish in the pics. My opinion of the collection is rapidly improving.

Also, rick's california bro headnod at the end was priceless... only rick could send guys out in dresses, and end with a gesture that my surf buddies would approve of.

[Servo2000]

Good soundtrack this year, too. Anyone got any info on that?

[kunk75]

yes, in motion, it isn't as offensive

[Shucks]

great great video.

man, i'm now even more completely behind this. sooo clean and nice.

and those apron skirts, can't 100% guarantee i will buy, but i will sure as fuck try them on and take it from there. REALLY hope some stores buy into this collection deep, so there's some stuff available to fidget around with and explore.

the tops are rad cause they are cut so straight and look so clean. no clingy shit... and i'm totally liking the slim pant / superlong graphic tank looks.

blazers like i said are fantastic - the sort of X-shape they really project now totally justifies using dual rear slits. and also the cropped ones which have a kind of biker jacket feel from the back.

the only thing that really irks me are the 'gathered' bolero or whatever thingies, but i guess he always throws in some odd shit in his minimalism.

this all gets two from me.

oh, and can we please all just get over the 'i can't believe he did skirts for men' thing? i wanna talk cuts, fabrics and pieces...

[moderninc2010]

Knit dress from 06 is something else though. More grunge than anything else, the new ones are not.

well said!!