Rick Owens' glam rock band

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jan 17, 2019

No grandstanding or scandal this season. A far cry from the spectacular shows to which his audiences have become accustomed, Rick Owens offered up an almost intimate show at Paris' Palais de Tokyo on Thursday, presenting a collection which featured precisely measured doses of excess. Accompanied by a hard rock soundtrack, the slender models walked the gloomy catwalk, illuminated by the spectral beam of an old anti-aircraft searchlight from the 1940s. 

Indeed, to come up with this collection, Owens took inspiration from American designer Larry LeGaspi, who was responsible for some of the most iconic looks worn by the rock bands of the 1970s, including Kiss. Owens has even written a book about the designer which will be published in October. 

Perched on vertiginous platform boots, their pale faces framed by their long hair and their eyes hidden behind snowboard-mask-style glasses in black or red, the models appeared in baggy, oversized flared trousers, dragging large bags along the ground behind them and casting a simultaneously gangly and majestic silhouette. 

Everything seemed to be extra large in this wardrobe which was nonetheless singularly balanced: from the fuchsia jeans bleached on the outside leg to the aforementioned glasses, via huge satchel-like leather pockets applied to the fronts of coats and other waterproofs in contrasting colours. 

The Rick Owens man for Fall/Winter 2019-20 opts for a simple fine-knit jumper pulled over pants or shorts and paired with long fleecy gilets or robes, all worn under coats in black or red wool with large raised lapels, or black puffer jackets featuring strange silvery swellings. 

The collection was rounded out with a series of dark jackets, the backs of which were covered in light-coloured sheepskin, and coats in bouclé wool, not to mention the fully vegan sport shoes produced through a collaboration with sustainable brand Veja.