March 4, 2022 |
The concept of a fashion show is nothing new, but real fashion moments are something of a rarity. Balenciaga had one last year with its red carpet catwalk which climaxed with a specially commissioned episode of The Simpsons. Richard Quinn made the season before, thanks to an audacious, Hollywood-level feature film which had queens, ballrooms, and was set in a neon-lit London.
This time, it was the turn of Rick Owens, who presented one of his most poignant, and frankly best, collections to date. The American designer has long crafted fashion that transcends beyond merely being just clothes. His work often has a signature, twisted bent (he is the high priest of all things goth, after all). But AW22 had ceremonial qualities, inspired by his Catholic upbringing, particularly an Art Deco bible by Cecil B. DeMille from the 1930s.
From a wall of fog, which cloaked the room in the designer’s new Aesop collaboration, Owens’ creatures of the great mist emerged, and disappeared again, like beings from another world. Much to the horror of the photographers in the pit, some came carrying portable fog machines which looked like the thuribles used to dispense incense into the church, soundtracked to Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 5” — a last-minute change from his usual ear-splitting techno.
“During times of heartbreak, beauty can be one of the ways to maintain faith,” Owens said in his show notes. His collection was a lesson in obscure beauty, one that favoured long-lined silhouettes, and terracotta, dusty pinks, champagne golds and yellows as its palette. Sequined column dresses dripped off the body, cradling the torso in protective boulders of glistening fabric, alongside cocooning boleros, both swollen and cropped puffers, and parkas that sprouted with faux fur. A pointy-shouldered fuzzy jacket with floor-skimming, knitted skirts appeared in several colour combinations, most notably the blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag.
It’s difficult not to view Fashion Week as trivial as war rips through a neighbouring nation. But as the front row gave Owens standing applause, it’s moments like these that paint a picture of clothing’s power to move you.
Photography courtesy of Rick Owens.
