Dear Shaded Viewers,
Paris has always been a city that sanctifies fashion, but with “Temple of Love,” Rick Owens transforms the Palais Galliera into something far more profound: a living shrine to the power of creation, difference, and devotion. This unprecedented retrospective, running from June 28, 2025, to January 4, 2026, is not only Owens’s first solo exhibition in Paris, but also a sweeping meditation on the themes that have defined his singular career—love, beauty, and the courage to exist outside the norm. Although I first met Rick in the ’2000s, when he began showing in Paris, I have had the privilege of witnessing every one of his shows here, each time marveling at the evolution of his vision and the magnitude of his success.
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Owens, the so-called “dark angel” of fashion, has long been a provocateur, a sculptor of silhouettes, and a thinker unafraid to challenge the establishment. From his beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1990s, repurposing military blankets and washed leather into garments, to his move to Paris in 2003, Owens has consistently blurred the boundaries between fashion, art, and social commentary. His palette—dominated by black, muted tones, and his signature “dust” grey—has become a visual shorthand for a worldview that is both uncompromising and deeply spiritual.
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“Temple of Love” is as much an emotional journey as it is a visual one. Over 100 sculptural silhouettes, drawn from across his archives, stand as sentinels of Owens’s radical vision. Personal documents, videos, and never-before-seen installations provide intimate access to his creative process, while works by Gustave Moreau, Joseph Beuys, and Steven Parrino illuminate the constellation of influences that orbit his universe. The exhibition’s scenography, orchestrated by Owens himself, extends beyond the museum’s walls: statues on the façade are draped in sequined fabric, and the gardens bristle with brutalist cement sculptures and Californian vines—a nod to his roots and his enduring love for the unexpected. The talk with the gardners started 3 years ago.
At the heart of this temple is Michèle Lamy, Owens’s wife and muse, whose presence is felt everywhere—from a re-creation of their Californian bedroom to the very spirit of the show. Their partnership, both creative and personal, underscores the exhibition’s central thesis: that love, in all its forms, is a force for transformation.
Owens’s work has always been about more than clothes. His shows have celebrated the strength of women, condemned discrimination, and pushed the boundaries of what fashion can say and do. Whether hiring an all-female, predominantly Black team of step dancers, a strong favorite of mine, or sending models down the runway in unapologetic displays of vulnerability and power, Owens has made the runway a stage for resistance and renewal.
“Temple of Love” is monumental in both scale and ambition. Yet, for all its grandeur, the exhibition is intensely personal—a testament to Owens’s belief in fashion as a vehicle for self-expression, social critique, and, ultimately, love. The Palais Galliera is not merely hosting a retrospective; it has been transformed into a sanctuary where the radical, the beautiful, and the different are not only accepted but revered.
In a world that often feels hostile to the unconventional, Rick Owens’s “Temple of Love” stands as a beacon—a reminder that true beauty lies in the courage to be oneself, and that love, in all its brutal, messy, transcendent forms, is the greatest act of creation. We thank the Good Lord that you exist.
Later,
Diane
General Curator Miren Arzalluz
Scientific Curator Alexandre Samson
Art Director Rick Owens
@ExpoRickOwens
