Scene setting: In the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, a united mankind attempts to build a vast structure tall enough to reach heaven. God, in response confounds their speech, splitting them across the world in settlements speaking many conflicting languages. Aspiration, and collapse, human desire and identity, fractured hope and belief: Rick Owens’ collections leave us questioning. Their architectural and avant-garde silhouettes act as an allegory for modern times. For Owens’ Tower of Babel-inspired open-air show set (one he also explored for his S/S 2019 men’s collection) he erected a pyre in the centre of his Palais de Tokyo location, which burst into flames in the middle of the show. A burning pyre, flames in the foreground of a modern art museum, its façade lined with classical sculptures. Food for socio-political thought on a Thursday evening.
Mood board: The torch-carrying women on Owen’s catwalk evoked unsettling fire goddesses, or worshippers of a flame-wielding deity. They wore spiky sculptural outerwear, kimonos with caped arms like wings, draped fringed dresses, and were swathed in dusty bleached denim and jersey. There were coats laser-cut from leather that looked like armour or ceremonial robes, and mini skirts with soft bumbag pockets. Owens’ silhouettes are always strong and striking. Just like the Tower of Babel, his protective and architectural silhouettes provide protection against a world in which we constantly seem to be falling.
Finishing touches: That architectural élan was translated into metal jewellery, which was part sculpture part accessory. Like the pyre that burst into flames mid show, models wore scaffolding-like cuffs, headdresses and bracelets, which encased their limbs inside graphic metal structures. The collection also showcased Owen's second collaboration with Birkenstock, which culminates in Rotterhiker metal buckle boots and Rotterdam velco strap sandals. The huge Space age sunglasses, which models wore on the catwalk, will protect them from whatever fire the future brings.
Rick Owens S/S 2019.
-
Inside MAZE Design Basel the city's new design fairWith only 11 exhibitors and the backdrop of a Swiss Gothic Revival church, MAZE Design Basel is a new intimate art fair for those in the know
-
A contemporary concrete and glass Belgian house is intertwined with its forested siteA new Belgian house, Govaert-Vanhoutte Architecten’s Residence SAB, brings refined modernist design into a sylvan setting, cleverly threading a multilayered new home between existing trees
-
The Grand Palais is a Parisian architectural feast, emerging from a mammoth restoration projectThe Grand Palais reopens, unfurling its spectacular architectural splendour, meticulously restored by Chatillon Architectes – take a tour
-
What the Wallpaper* editors are looking forward to at Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026As Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026 begins in Florence, the Wallpaper* style team select the moments they will be looking out for – from Jonathan Anderson’s anticipated Dior debut to outings from Wales Bonner, Kiko Kostadinov and Prada
-
Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
-
Horace’s new men’s scent is the linen shirt of the fragrance closetVetiver Primavera, the new fragrance from men’s grooming brand Horace, is casual but elegant, says Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary – a citrussy scent for summer
-
‘Don’t forget to get the bread!’ Serge Lutens writes an ode to a singular perfumePublished exclusively by Wallpaper*, Serge Lutens writes an ode to Jeux de Peau, a singular perfume of his creation inspired by a childhood memory of baking bread
-
French skincare brand PERS doesn’t believe in overcomplicated routinesFrench skincare brand PERS – an acronym for ‘protect, enhance, repair, and stimulate’ – has recently arrived in the UK. The mastermind behind it, Dr Antoni Calmon, tells Wallpaper* about his protocol
-
What did Christian Dior’s favourite ‘invisible’ flower smell like?Dior’s Francis Kurkdijan recreates the scent of a rare lily of the valley species in Le Muguet, the first olfactory chapter of new perfume collection Les Récoltes Majeures
-
Inside Camperlab’s Harry Nuriev-designed Paris store, a dramatic exercise in contrastThe Crosby Studios founder tells Wallpaper* the story behind his new store design for Mallorcan shoe brand Camperlab, which centres on an interplay between ‘crushed concrete’ and gleaming industrial design
-
This perfume bottle archive was nearly lost. Now, it offers a rare whiff of fragrance historyFifty blueprints from a forgotten French crystal manufacturer will be for sale as part of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
