Not really anything too substantive here, but an enjoyable read nonetheless; Vogue recently published a lengthy profile of Rick Owens, and if you’re a fan of his (clothes, persona, or both), or just looking for a way to kill 20 minutes, the article does not disappoint.
Some things we learn: Rick Owens hasn’t been back to LA once since leaving in 2003 (“California is overshadowed… with memories of his younger self,” a “weak” version of him). He also doesn’t speak French, despite having lived in France for 16 years. And he’s got a thing for antiques – but only Art Nouveau antiques.
Other fun facts about an individual earnestly described as a “Rimbaudian iconoclast”? He hosted 120 people for Thanksgiving this year, which I wasn’t expecting. He eats dinner at 10pm, which I was expecting. He has a thing for “lamps shaped like chemistry equipment” and owns a Horst Egon Kalinowski sculpture, an artist that’s MOMA-exhibited, according to some cursory Googling.
He occasionally goes dancing at 4am. He “sees his work in dialogue with archetypes of human dress… [like] armor, theater and naturalism,” which doesn’t seem inaccurate. And he “finds color a distraction” and even “edits color designs in greyscale.”
Whatever your feelings about Owens’ clothes (or furniture or affinity for human hair), his impact has been irrefutable, he remains one of the last independent designers out there, and this interview is a fucking blast.
You can read more about it at Vogue.
