Rick Owens S/S 2019 Paris Fashion Week Women's
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.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station: a building ‘as inspiring as the endless forest and waterways of the land’
The new Tekαkαpimək Contact Station by Saunders Architecture with Reed Hilderbrand and Alisberg Parker Architects, opens at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in the USA
By Beth Broome Published
-
Bentley collaborates with fashion designer Supriya Lele to create ‘Nīla Blue’
This one-off Bentley Bentayga S showcases a new paint and interior specification created with Indian-British designer Supriya Lele
By Shawn Adams Published
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Yoruya, a Japanese inn where less is always more
Yoruya, which transforms a 110-year-old former kimono merchant shopfront and residence in Kurashiki, is an exercise in graceful restraint and craft
By Joanna Kawecki Published
-
Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France Femmes
Marking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
At home with Rick Owens
As California-born fashion designer Rick Owens is named one of the Wallpaper* USA 300 – a celebration of creative America – we revisit our conversation with Owens in the run-up to his S/S 2023 menswear show last year
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu Miu
In this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear shows
From giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2021: discotheque chic to apres-ski sleek
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Walk this way: navigating S/S 2021's Paris Fashion Week
How the City of Lights looked to the sartorial realities of our much changed lifestyles
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated