Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens harnesses the power of the pyramid

Entering from between two large, angled slab-like panels that looked like the entrance to a futuristic pyramid, the models wearing Rick Owens' spring and summer 2012 menswear collection strode down the runway in floor-length garments so crisp the swoosh of fabric on fabric could be heard over the din of the show soundtrack.

Some resembled the wrapped robes of Buddhist monks, other pieces looked like sleeveless linen dresses, with seemingly little in common. But as the show progressed things began to take shape. And that shape was decidedly the sharp V of the triangle or, in three dimensions, the pyramid. (Stretch the notion a bit, stack a few together and you've got chevrons -- which have been turning up on the runways of Milan and Paris over the last week.)

Once you picked up on the pyramid scheme, it seemed to be everywhere -- not just the wide base of the robe hems, but the black leather triangle at the breastbone formed by the geometric drape of fabric over the shoulders, the lapels of the jacket angling in to a single button closure and angling out again, the white zippers on a sleeveless black tunic that angle out from the Adam's apple, the stacked bars that increased in width from top to bottom down the front of knit shirts that fall to mid-thigh.

By the end of the show, even the splayed-open jacket cuffs and laceless suede boot uppers seemed to be complicit in the triangulation. Even if you don't appreciate Rick Owens' severe, austere, sunglass-wearing-monks-from-the-future aesthetic, you'd be hard-pressed not to recognize his design skills.

After the show, I started to think about the ancient Egyptians and the Aztecs and the spiritual, mystical power-focusing aspect of the pyramids. As I left the venue and headed to the Metro, I happened to glance back at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy -- the stadium/performance space where Owens has staged his menswear shows for the last several seasons.

That's when it dawned on me that the grass-covered walls of the uniquely shaped building slope into a pyramid.

-- Adam Tschorn, reporting from Paris

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Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens opts for angels, not demons

Photos: Looks from the Rick Owens spring / summer 2012 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit:Michel Euler / Associated Press.

Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens and Gareth Pugh find religion

Rick Owens and his protege Gareth Pugh, fashion's princes of darkness, must have experienced some enlightenment. Because this season, both of their collections were rife with religious iconography and references to good vs. evil.

Not that there wasn't a lighthearted spirit about these clothes. Pugh's were really more appropriate for worshipping at a nightclub than a cathedral. Gold zippers on the front of a tight black mini-dress mimicked the shape of a cross, while a black rubber asymmetrical jacket called to mind something more sinister. A black dress flying a blue cape looked heaven-sent, while black-and-gold stripe, and gold mirrored, mini-dresses were golden gods by way of the disco. 

Owens, on the other hand, was in the high-fashion nunnery, putting his models in fur habits. To introduce the theme of dark vs. light, there were black-and-white colorblocked cape coats over long skirts and gauntlet gloves. Pod-like capes in fur or wool shrouded the body, and long skirts, slit up the back, were topped with terrific-looking boxy jackets with leather panels. The most exciting new silhouette? A jacket with sculpted sleeves resembling angels' wings.

--Booth Moore in Paris

PHOTOS:

Rick Owens fall-winter 2011 runway collection photo gallery

Gareth Pugh fall-winter 2011 runway collection photo gallery

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Photos top: Looks from the Gareth Pugh fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.

Photos bottom: Looks from the Rick Owens fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.

Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens and the dangerous-looking duffle coat

The notion of the superhero is one that's come up at several of the menswear runway shows in Paris this week, at Mugler's, Dries Van Noten's and even Jean Paul Gaultier's, with his homage to James Bond. (Super spy = superhero, no?)

But the rugged, lantern-jawed hero -- swooping in with his broad shoulders, muscle-hugging body armor and billowing cape -- is nothing but an empty suit unless he's battling the forces of evil. To be truly super, the superhero needs a worthy super-villain.

Which is why we'll always need Rick Owens and his army of darkness as a counterbalance -- emerging from the swirling smoke at the top of the runway and clomping across our brain stems in heavy boots.

Though the fall-winter 2011 collection was mostly crammed with Owen's usual ouevre -- severe man-skirts, voluminous ponchos, face-obscuring turtlenecks and tightly belted coats -- the designer switched it up in the details department just enough to keep things interesting.

One noteworthy new addition was his take on the duffle coat -- one of the season's more popular outerwear silhouettes -- which included vertically zippered chest pockets (for stowing the fabric toggle straps completely out of sight) and tapered stainless steel toggle buttons that looked more like surgical instruments than garment closures.

Yes, Rick Owens made a duffle coat look dangerous.

That's talent.

-- Adam Tschorn, reporting from Paris

Photos: Looks from the Rick Owens Fall and Winter 2011 menswear runway collection, including the designer's version of the duffle coat (at left), shown on January 20, 2011, during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For The Times.

New collection: IMPROVD's dark simplicity

"Avant-garde basics" is how designer Valentino Vettori describes his new collection, IMPROVD, adding, "I didn't want women to have to think about how to put the pieces on. I wanted them to be avant-garde but simple."

Vettori, a 10-year veteran of Diesel’s design team, recently launched the wearable, chic collection with another industry insider, Sam Ben-Avraham, founder of the well-known Atrium boutique in New York and the Project Global Tradeshow.

And while the pared-down edginess of the line renders it infinitely wearable, there's another element to love -- its reasonable prices. Tops start at $60 on the low end, with leather jackets running around $500 on the high end. The collection is available at Madison Et Cie and EM & Co. in Los Angeles.

Accessible pricing "is a must," said Vettori. "It's the base -- the whole point of the brand." As a former showroom owner who imported pricey European lines, "I was seeing all this new avant-garde all the time, and every time I picked up something I liked, it was $2,000. It was ridiculous. You make a raw-edge cut and it automatically has to be expensive? I wanted to position myself as an amazing product at an amazing price for a generation that understands the avant-garde."

The fall collection is full of moody pieces wrought in black and gray -- body-conscious printed dresses, shrunken leather jackets and a kimono-wrapped puffer coat among them.

As for the label's name (pronounced "improved"), Vettori says it's a reference to improving his life and his work. He also likes that it could be misread as "improv-ed." After all, he said, "fashion is improvising."

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: A look from IMPROVD's fall collection

Q&A: Evan Lysacek talks about 'Dancing With the Stars,' Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and training in Rick Owens cashmeres

Ralph Lauren celebrated Evan Lysacek's Olympic gold medal win at the brand’s Robertson flagship Tuesday, following the figure skater’s debut on “Dancing With the Stars” the night before. "Dancing" castmates Buzz Aldrin, Niecy Nash and Bruno Tonioli came to toast Lysacek -- the first American man to win a gold in figure skating in 22 years. 

Lysacek, one of the Olympic athletes who partnered with Polo Ralph Lauren in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, wore a Team USA polo shirt and also autographed customers' Team USA shirts.

Lysacek chatted with All the Rage enthusiastically about "Dancing With the Stars" and fashion.

You're a big fan of Ralph Lauren?

I’ve always loved Polo since I was little. I’ve worn Ralph’s clothes always.

Team USA was extremely honored to wear his designs in Vancouver. Without a doubt the best outfit there, so props to him and his entire company for coming up with an incredible look.
It truly has been an honor to be aligned with this brand for the past year. I hope I can continue to work with them. Ralph Lauren is an American icon as far as fashion is concerned.

Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens opts for angels, not demons

PARIS -- Compared to previous seasons, Rick Owens’ collection felt like a breath of fresh air in a mausoleum, a ray of white light stabbing into the darkness. Whatever yin/yang analogy you use, his traditional heavy-handed march of the mutants seemed practically uplifting. Nay, spiritual. 

Instead of monsters and demons garbed in blacker than black, Owens seemed to be sending his version of angels down the runway. Gleaming white trench coats, tailored white square-shouldered jackets that shimmered over camel-colored tunics, even the heavy clodhopper boots looked somehow lighter, the pale brown snakeskin seeming like baked meringue. 

Backstage, the designer waved off any notion of trying to read a kinder, gentler Rick Owens in the catwalk tea leaves. “Yeah, last time I had lots of monsters on the runway,” he said with a shrug. “But I was just in the mood for a nice tailored jacket. The kind I’d like to wear. So that’s what I did.”

Owens' show also served up perhaps my favorite fashion show celebrity sighting of all time. No, it wasn't Kanye West and Amber Rose (who, were indeed, sitting front row), but the bearded gentleman I found myself face to face with as I exited the backstage area: none other than actor Howard Hesseman -- who, despite a lengthy and productive TV career since, will ever be remembered to me as DJ  Dr. Johnny Fever   from the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati."

He and Owens are old friends, he told me, and he came to support the designer. 

As we parted ways, for the merest of moments, I let my mind wander to what Hesseman's DJ alter-ego would might look like rocking one of those serious, strong-shouldered Rick Owens jackets.

And it made me appreciate the artistry of both men that much more.

-- Adam Tschorn

Rick Owens Fall/Winter 2010 Men's Runway Photo Gallery

Coverage of Paris Fashion Week

Coverage of Milan Fashion Week

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Paris Fashion Week: Goth kingpin Rick Owens lightens up for spring

A cloud-like silver lamé dress softly gathered at the back, designed by Rick Owens? That's right, for spring, the Goth stalwart lightened up his dark aesthetic with buoyant shapes and papery thin fabrics.

But first, he opened with a few of the asymmetrical jackets and vests that have given him appeal beyond fashion's avant garde, this time with paper airplane-like folds on the fronts, and angular peaks jutting up from the shoulders. Crisp sleeveless tunics with conical volumes were an interesting progression of his sculptural style, even if they were worn with what can only be described as loincloths that kept getting caught up between the models' legs.

It proved to be a minor distraction; the biggest news was in coats--light-as-air with crinkly flourishes at the collar. And then there were those beguiling, draped lame parachute dresses, catching wind as the models walked, and carrying Owens to a new height.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Rick Owens' Spring-Summer 2010 runway

All the Rage: More from Paris Fashion Week

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Follow fashion critic Booth Moore on Twitter.

Photo: Rick Owens' Spring-Summer 2010 runway. Photo credit: Peter Stigter and Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

Rick Owens delves into furniture design

Edgy Paris-based designer Rick Owens, who started his fashion career in Los Angeles, is now dipping his leather-clad toe into furniture design. WWD reports that the designer has launched a limited-edition furniture collection, which is shown and sold separately from his ready-to-wear.

Currently on display in a show called "Evolution" that runs through September at London's Sebastian + Barquet’s gallery, the rough-hewn decor boasts Owens' signature raw-and-primitive vibe. Deconstructed chairs, sofas, tables and lamps are made from antlers, plywood, marble, shearling and fisher fur (Owens is a huge fur fan, and shearling has been a staple in his collections).

The collection will be sold only in galleries, not stores. Prices start at $2,970 for a wooden bench, topping out at $36,300 for a suede-and-wood sofa.

The designer started making furniture when his lust for avant-garde decor from the legendary likes of Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Le Corbusier and Robert Mallet-Stevens exceeded his budget.

He did not return a request for comment, but reportedly cringes at the idea of the line being called a "home" collection. Still, he's cognizant of the importance of keeping his brand's vision narrow -- on the runway and in galleries, noting to WWD, “It all has to belong to one universe."

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photo: Designer Rick Owens and partner Michele. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Paris Fashion Week: Rick Owens' 'homage' to the American tourist

 

PARIS -- Rick Owens' sophomore outing at men's fashion week here Friday found the designer easing up a bit from his Fall/Winter show (truthfully there wasn't much room to move in the other direction -- if the collection got any darker and heavier, it would risk collapsing in on itself and create a black hole). There were gauzy, white long-sleeve T-shirts, faded, repurposed denim used to create geometric shapes, and black nylon shirts.

Pieces seemed to have fluidity: A zip-front leather vest paired with a soft-draping fabric hood; a messenger bag strap slung across the chest anchored a cloud of black fabric that resembled something between garbage bag and carbon paper. Zippers curved gracefully; a square white "tail" of fabric fluttered from the rear waistband of pants.

And then there was the footwear, the most memorable of which were eye-catching black-and-white high-top sneakers with leather pieces from shin to toe that make the feet look like suction cups.

Back stage after the show, Owens explained his inspiration. "I call it my all-American collection," he said. 'It's sort of an apology for being such a [jerk]."

"I was quoted in an interview saying American tourists were ruining the Paris landscape with their fanny packs and their man bags, so this collection has leather jackets that have arms that zip off and the jacket becomes a bag."

After slowly sliding my own man bag out of Owen's sight, I asked if there was anything he did differently for this collection.

"Yeah," said the dark prince of Paris Fashion Week. "I used taffeta this time, and I liked the way it turned out."

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: Looks from Rick Owens' men's Spring/Summer 2010 runway show in Paris on June 26, 2009. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson.

More photos from Rick Owens' Spring 2010 runway show

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Designer sale at Resurrection this Saturday

 

A slew of L.A.’s best designers, includingGregory Parkinson, Magda Berliner, Katy Rodriguez and   Wren’s Melissa Coker, are selling their goods at a super discount (50-70% off) this Saturday.

Plus, vintage pieces from Balenciaga, Prada, Comme des Garcons, Ann Demeulemeester, Chloe and Rick Owens.

Happy shopping!

Resurrection, 8006 Melrose Ave., L.A., CA 90046 Saturday, May 2, 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

--Melissa Magsaysay

Top: A look from Katy Rodriguez, photo by Katy Rodriguez; Left: A runway look from Wren, photo by Lori Shepler / L.A. Times; Right: A runway look from Gregory Parkinson, photo by Spencer Weiner / L.A. Times