Rick Owens

By Hayden Lu

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Originally from Southern California, Rick Owens, a Paris-based designer, found his way up to the top, becoming one of today’s most avant-garde designers. Rick Owens first found his interest in art, by attending the Otis College of Art and Design. Many can tell how his artistic background has a significant influence on his conceptual designs. However, two years later he dropped out, discovering his passion for pattern cutting at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College. In 1994, Owens launched his first fashion line with the help of Charles Gale, the owner of a luxury boutique in Los Angeles. Charles believed that Owens’s work would be successful and even paid upfront for half of his collection to be sold in his boutique, which is a rarity in the fashion industry where up-and-coming designers only get paid after their clothes are sold. Soon, the name Rick Owens became admired in the LA area. This was when larger and better known stores like Maxfield, started contacting him for his extravagant designs. Owens soon started selling his collections at Maxfield, and this was just the start of the recognition for his unconventional garments. 

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So what makes Rick Owens designs so unique and unconventional? Rick Owens is widely known for his gothic and dark designs, eventually dubbed the nickname “Lord of Darkness”. This fashion designer has an extreme taste for an industrial yet minimal style. It is common to see throughout his collections that he experiments with various silhouettes and fabrics, allowing each garment to be different than the next. Other than his unique style, Rick Owens generally involves gender neutrality in his clothing. According to New York Times Style Magazine, Owens is “likely to propose a dress for a man as for a woman, but without sacrificing manliness in favor of runway novelty” (Fury 2017). The fluidity of gender expands the idea of fashion in so many ways, allowing any type of clothing to be accessible to men or women. 

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To this day, Rick Owens has been highly successful, in his collaborations with Converse, Dr. Martens, Champion, etc. Now, multiple Rick Owens stores have opened up in London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Amongst other brands, Rick Owens has made a substantial impact on the fashion industry with his individualistic style.