Diana Ross was on the soundtrack singing “I still believe in love” at today’s Rick Owens’s show, but it turns out that a Björk concert is what got his juices flowing for spring. “During her show,” Owens said, “I thought ‘oh, this is so positive,’ and I felt kind of dumb for being so gloomy all the time.”
Did Paris’s Prince of Darkness find the light? That might be overstating things, but the opening looks did feel unexpected. Yes, the models wore contacts that turned the whites of their eyes black, but beyond the otherworldly special effects were three of the most elegant looks seen on the Paris runways this season. Fitted close to the body and perched on top of impossibly high platform sandal-boots, they had the look of 1930s screen goddesses on steroids. It feels strange to use this word in the context of Rick Owens, but they were downright pretty.
The deep reds and mauve-ish pinks kept the positive vibes flowing. Owens may prefer to use shades of black and gray, but he’s always had an eye for color, and it was on display in a look that combined a dusty pink peak-shouldered shrunken leather motorcycle jacket and one of the show’s many long skirts with ultra-high waists and mini trains in caramel leather.
Flowing is the right word for the silk capes that he designed with rounded hems to catch the wind and billow like parachutes. They were a sensational sight as the models made their slow perambulations around the Palais de Tokyo plaza. Owens was after lightness too with the accordion pleated tulle and organza “donuts” he modeled on the circular poufs he introduced last season in heavier metallic fabrics. “They’re like sugar candy,” he said.
Walking through the fuchsia pink and acid yellow fog and showers of rose petals, the final five models wore loose-fitting jumpsuits that conjured hazmat suits, not least of all because of their coordinating sheer veils. After that Björk concert, Owens may have considered joy “a moral obligation,” but he can’t help his own tendencies. Other shapes rematerialized alongside the donuts: the collars that soared past the ears, the shoulder pads like something out of a gladiator game. Owens sees the big, bad world the way it is, and that’s why we love him.
Collection
This article was originally published on Vogue Runway.
