Fashion Focus: Rick Owens

Rick Owens, a Californian fashion designer born in 1961, is well-known for his avant-garde style and contemporary clothing.  Mr. Owens originally studied fine arts at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles before taking a pattern cutting class which led him to abandon his fine art studies for a career in fashion.  He launched his label in 1994 and sold exclusively to Charles Gallay and then in 2001, he began production in Italy with Eo Bocci Associati for worldwide distribution.

 A growing reputation

Rick Owens started to capture the attention of people when a photo of Kate Moss was shot by Corinne Day, which appeared in Vogue Paris wearing one of his signature leather jackets.  In September 2002, he showed his first collection during the New York Fashion Week which was sponsored by Vogue USA and Anna Wintour.  In that same year, he won the CFDA* and Perry Ellis Emerging Talent Awards thanks to the silhouettes of his leather jackets, zigzagging zippers and unconventional cuts. Today, Mr. Owens has boutique stores in New York, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong.

A mix of glamour, grunge and gothic style

Rick Owens offers a line that is often known for its dark themes and unorthodox shapes.  His style has been described as “Glamour-meets grunge” but as Mr. Owens says, “I try to make clothes the way Lou Reed does music, with minimal chord changes…. It’s about giving everything I make a worn, softened feeling”.

Check out the Rick Owens’s Spring 2012 collection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKY7XgHz8Mo

 

*CFDA: Council of fashion designers of America

Spring – Summer 2012 Collection

Advertisement