Dear Shaded viewers,
Rick Owens seems to be establishing a new tradition, an expression of inclusivity and unity that is often neglected in the Fashion Industry. Last June, Owens welcomed 200 fashion students, street-casted models, and his own close circle to present a vast collection – he called it a “white satin army of love,” and “in the face of our current wars” he continued this season in the same stride.
Above Palais de Tokyo, the sun mystically broke through the clouds that had been brooding over all of Paris Fashion Week. Through the smoke, came Owens’ second part to his epic, all-white SS25 “Hollywood” collection, an all-black sequel. After his last collection, “Porterville” had explored the pressures and judgements of the small town he was raised in and escaped from, Hollywood or “the boulevard of vice” as he calls it, comes as a form of Eden where self-expression and love redeem themselves. While Owens has always been a champion of individuality, he abandoned the traditional lineup of a runway by repeating looks on a diversity of bodies. The format of the show comes as a statement that togetherness and embracing commonalities is the only way we can even begin to act against the terrors of intolerance that take place on our planet.
Earie and alienesque, as Rick does best, many models’ eyes were black, and brows were bleached. Hair was either sleekly brushed down, or natural locks were dramatically combed out, all building the cinematic grandeur of the show. Inspired by Owens’ edgy revival of Art Deco, black leather crowns were designed and made in collaboration with Coco Lucquaid, a Parisian Hat Making Institution. Rigid tailoring with heavily structured shoulders, paired with boxy cotton shirts, defined the opening looks. Immediately addressing his goal to make clothes that can look good on everybody, shorts or thrashed denim cutoffs featured side slits that freed the leg for movement. Last season’s deflated boots in black, made in collaboration with London designer StrayTukay, appeared in almost every look, many styled with added shin cargo packs that evoked the protective details of military uniform.
Owens’ love for drama with a gothy twist is met with a dedicated consideration of the environmental impact of his garment production. Many hoods and high neck lines transformed into flowing capes in silk chiffon from the Como region of Italy and GOTS Certified Organic Silk. Some featured abstracted prints, reminiscent of leopard fur or python scales in limey green and dusty gray. Tunics with voluminous trains were crafted from charmeuse or transparent jersey made of Cupro, a biodegradable and 100% plant based fiber from cotton waste that would otherwise be discarded. Recycled polyester canvas held the rigid silhouettes of transposable zipped jackets and coats with asymmetrical utilitarian-inspired pockets and straight-cut tailoring. These were produced as part of an ongoing collaboration with the textile mill Bonotto who use vintage narrow looms.
Amongst the models of the Hollywood collection were members of OWENSCORP and friends that Rick greatly admires. Hannah Dalton from Fecal Matter, artist Baybjane, photographer Kristina Nagel, and Allanah Star, one of the grande dames of the international trans community, are all individuals strongly dedicated to unique expression and champions of acceptance. Owens’ powerful presentation of togetherness is not limited to his models and the wearers of his collections, but to their creators as well. SS25 includes black charmeuse robes designed by Dafne Balatsos, one of the first members of OWENSCORP. For the first 5 years establishing his brand, Owens and Balatsos worked alone, with one sewer, in Hollywood and she buy their silks at Oriental Silks, a small store on Beverly Boulevard in Hollywood. At the time they could only afford limited amounts to fill their small orders. Recently, she discovered that the store closed several years ago and tracked down their remaining stock for a limited collection of robes and pajamas for those close to her heart and shares them with OWENSCORP.
Shorts and boots became long denim skirts tight to the curves of all bodies, with frayed edge fishtail trains and a snakeskin-like sheen from a cracking leather coating. When not paired with black tops that wrapped, twisted, and draped, hooded girder-shouldered biker jackets made in vegetable tanned lamb hide from the Solofra region of Italy or from Italian-tanned jumbo scaled American alligator completed these looks. From there the collection transitioned out of monochrome black, with dust grey or metallic gold merino knit gowns that revealed skin through delicate slits and slashes, a continuation of Owens’ collaboration with Slovenian knitwear designer Tanja Vidic.
The final looks repeated the denim skirts, applying them to silhouettes that reimagined Oold Hollywood and Art Deco gowns with Owens’ distinct dystopian energy. On them, gold “megacrusting” appeared to crack and chip. The bodices varied, some were strapless cloudlike forms, others long-sleeved or standing stiff like an oversized starched t-shirt, but each gown or skirt reached the floor with an elegant fishtail flair and train. The denim was all treated in an Italian wash house based in the Veneto area of Italy, focused on recycling and reduction of waste of the water used in the denim treatment process. All the denim washes are ZDHC certified.
The show closed in gold, as cloaked figures on the roof of the Palais de Tokyo released white petals into the air, a lasting image of peace and serenity.
Later,
Eliya
