Six male models wearing looks from the Rick Owens collection. One model is wearing a grey multi-layered piece with chain and straps. Another two models are wearing grey jackets and another three models are wearing dark coloured jackets. There are two models with painted white faces and a seventh person in the background with an afro. They are standing in front of a blue wall
Rick Owens A/W 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Scene setting: Owens held his show in a different part of the Palais du Tokyo from the usual concrete foxhole. The great curved space was flooded with severe bright white light; guests squinted and blinked as they sat on metal benches. The models paced to a remix of ‘Energize’ by DJ Speedlap – a 90s terror techno track which heightened the prophesying mood.

Mood board: Owens is a deep thinker. His clothes are poetic omens. For A/W 2016 he showed a collection of cocooning primordial lavishness inspired by the Mastodon; the forest-dwelling elephant-like animal that became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, likely due to interventions by man. Owens always has an urgency. A/W 2018 was created with the cyclical nature of life at the forefront of his mind. The collection was named after Sisyphus, the crafty king of Greek mythology who was punished for his deceitful ways, forced to push a boulder up a hill — only for it to roll away again and again and again.

Sound bite: the designer is in a reflective mood. ‘It’s draining to watch unhealthy cycles repeat themselves, behaviourally and historically, and every once in a while, it’s hard to suppress a howl of rage,’ his notes for the show read. ‘If we haven’t learned better by now, after all this time, does this mean unhealthy cycles and base urges are an integral part of the human condition? And if they are integral, does that mean they have some kind of horrible value?’ Cargo chaps in camel hair flannel; raw-denim jeans lopped into jagged skirts; thick cashmere and cotton tunics slashed and left to hang around the body — don’t be fooled by the extremity of Owen’s clothes. They have a flawless majesty. Flags were sewn into the back of long coats. Floating as the models walked, their drape argued with the numbness of wool felt and nylon duchesse. The moment between rage and ecstasy.

Three male models wearing looks from the Rick Owens collection. One model is wearing a grey multi-layered piece with chain and straps. Next to him is a model wearing dark bottoms and a black top that exposes the chest and arms and features a chain and strap. The third model is wearing a grey piece with chain and strap and a dark grey coat over the top. They are standing in front of a blue wall

Rick Owens A/W 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Five models wearing looks from the Rick Owens collection. One model is wearing dark coloured bottoms with a cream piece over the top. Another model is wearing dark brown coloured bottoms and a dark brown piece that exposes the arms and chest. The third model is wearing a cream layered cape style piece. The fourth model is wearing a cream piece with dark grey coat over the top. And the fifth model is wearing a dark brown layered piece with a strap

Rick Owens A/W 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Three male models wearing looks from the Rick Owens collection. Two models are wearing black tops and black coats in different styles. And one model is wearing a black top with a black fluffy style piece over the top and has a chain and light coloured strap by the neck area. They are standing in front of a blue wall

Rick Owens A/W 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Three male models wearing looks from the Rick Owens collection. One model is wearing dark bottoms and a grey piece that exposes the arm and part of the chest. Another model is wearing a grey coat with a grey piece underneath that exposes parts of the chest and features a chain and straps. And the third model is wearing a black top and black oversized coat. They are standing in front of a blue wall

Rick Owens A/W 2018. Photohraphy: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.