A Favourite Fashion Brand: Rick Owens
Since 1995 Rick Saturnino Owens is creating clothing for those who prefer the darker side of fashion. Rick Owens has a unique gothic aesthetic which can be recognized by the dominance of the color black and avant-garde shapes. Rick Owens has also been influenced by the American culture of grunge. Designing leather jackets with overly long sleeves and elongated tight-fitted t-shirts, Owens has created a style that is now called “glunge” – a perfect synthesis of glamour and grunge. Rick Owens’s trademark style was noticed by Los Angeles retailer Charles Gallay who bought the major part of the first ever Martin Margiela’s collection. Gallay was paying for half of the Rick Owens collections up front which allowed Owens to start the productions of the next collections right away, without having to wait for sales.
“We talk about fashion being one of the worst polluters, but every once in a while, it can also be about the pursuit of beautiful attitudes and behavior, some clothes are just going to make you think about sex and flash and extravagance and greed, but other clothes are going to make you think of the opposite. Beauty is an important cultural contribution. I’m conscious of the waste in this industry, but I’m not ashamed for being part of it. Contributing more beauty than we consume is the attitude to strive for.”
Rick Owens
Rick Owens means environmental responsibility. As the use of massive amounts of plastic in the fashion industry has become a major environmental issue, when working on sneakers, the designer has looked for a responsible sneaker company. Owens’s research has led to his collaboration with Veja – a French shoe brand founded by Sébastien Kopp and Ghislain Morillion that is creating sneakers differently, mixing social projects, economic justice, and ecological materials. Veja sources all of its raw materials and built every step of its supply chain. Their goal for the running shoe was to get rid of plastic entirely. Kopp commented: “We half succeeded, because it’s 45 percent bio-based materials like banana oil, sugarcane, rice husk, and natural rubber.”
Clothing for Rick Owens’s main line is made out of the softest leather, high-quality cashmere, and silk. These materials might not be so practical for daily wear. That’s why at the beginning of the 2000s Owens started working on his other line – DRKSHDW. The clothes designed for this line have a similar aesthetic, however, one of the main used materials has become denim. DRKSHDW has allowed Rick Owens to reach a wider audience through a more affordable pricing strategy.
References:
1)The Rick Owens Aesthetic Vocabulary by Aurora Fiorentini
https://www.polimoda.com/rick-owens-aesthetic
2)“Contributing More Beauty Than We Consume Is the Attitude to Strive For”-Rick Owens Talks Sustainability and His Lates Sneaker by Emily Farra
https://www.vogue.com/article/rick-owens-veja-sneaker-collaboration-sustainability
3)Rick Owens to open boutique in Los Angeles by Sara Ehlers
https://fashionunited.com/news/retail/rick-owens-to-open-boutique-in-los-angeles/201508017703
4)https://directory.goodonyou.eco/brand/veja