When you think Rick Owens, tall, slender silhouettes come to mind – cinching pencil skirts, those signature pointed shoulders and trailing, tightly draped gowns meant for giants (or Kiss boots) – for the most part, in shades of black. And, to be fair, this was the look widely seen outside the designer’s SS24 show on the many diehard fans trying to catch a glimpse of the Palais de Tokyo runway – one climbed into a tree; Rick fandom runs deep. However, what set this collection apart were the pops of colour seen throughout, pale pinks and violet, burgundy and bright red, and tones of burnt orange, that conveyed an otherworldly, intoxicating sense of optimism.
The designer recalled attending a Björk concert earlier this month, and being so struck by her “intelligent, life-affirming energy”, he says in the show notes. “[It] made me kind of embarrassed of my own mopey adolescent pessimism… and hers wasn’t a Disney escapist obliviousness, but a concerned and thoughtful trust in moving forward. She expressed hope… I suppose I express resignation,” he continued. “My default setting is to propose a more sombre sobriety respectful of an ailing and struggling world observing a war. My enthusiasm is more tempered and suspicious. But I try to express the hope for joy while cautioning empathy and responsibility.”
This push and pull can be felt throughout the contrasts of SS24. A strict black leather dress rolled over one shoulder and a jersey top twisted around the body in the form of a cape; paired with a leather skirt that flitted out at the thighs, the silhouettes reinforced the goth, warrior-like style of dressing that Rick Owens has become so known for as bright fuschia and yellow smoke erupted around the fountain – the sculpted Greek goddesses bearing witness to his world burning. Yet as the show continued, we noticed that flowers of the same colour were falling from the sky, landing like fallen snow on the runway to a club mix of “I Still Believe” by Diana Ross.
“Considering joy a moral obligation,” the show notes read, building on Rick’s menswear offering earlier this year, the designer replicated tiny, band-like bra tops and extremely high-waisted skirts, this time in burgundy red; sculpted dresses with their alien linebacker shoulders and matching moto jackets in soft, subdued pink, and then bright red, while models wore eerie netted hoods; the bulbous “duvet donuts” were done in geometric, frayed denim and reimagined as “spring confections” in airy silk organza and tulle. One rust number appeared infinite as the sumptuous fabric swirled around the netted neck, the shoulders, then the body and trailed down the runway, as if caught up in the feeling, the emotion of it all. “All is Full of Love” would have been just as fitting a soundtrack to Rick’s beautifully dark, twisted romance, but the resounding lyrical cry of “I still believe love” has made believers out of us, too.
