February 28, 2020 |
From the very first look – an asymmetric fishtail knit dress that exposed one whole leg from hip to heel, paired with glam rock platforms, it was clear that this Rick Owens womenswear show would build on his stellar men’s presentation. That show was inspired by the one-legged knitted jumpsuits Kansai Yamamoto designed for David Bowie. Most of the models wore a version of the hip-slit dress with one of Owens’ ingenious jackets on top. His silhouettes were deliberately exaggerated by conical shoulder pads moulded to look like pyramids. Along with wild frizzy hair, it gave his models a mythical alien look. Rick makes clothes for people who are aliens in a mainstream cookie cutter system. It comes from being a suburban California kid who always felt like an alien in his home town and found his kindred in avant-garde fashion, and the music of Bowie and Gary Numan (who played on the soundtrack). Clear plastic boots, overcoats and tabards layered into the mix brought a clinical note, which contrasted with chunky, hand knit elements. The show closed with a series of fantastical, sunburst quilted capes that were regal, primal and space age at the same time. In other words, they were very Rick.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
