PONYSTEP – OCTOBER 2008 – BY LAUREN COCHRANE

OCTOBER 2008

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FRESH FROM BASKING IN THE GOTH/DIRGE BONNIE-AND-CLYDE SUPERSTAR AURA AT GARETH'S S/S 09 SHOW (YES, WE'RE TALKING RICK OWENS AND THE WONDERFUL MICHELE LAMY), PONYSTEP DISPATCHED LAUREN COCHRANE TO CATCH UP WITH OWENS, THE MOST MACHO (AND BRUTAL) OF MINIMALISTS. SHOPTALK ENSUED AS DID CHANEL BISQUE FOUNDATION, TINA TURNER'S 'ACID QUEEN,' AND A 'MOMENT' WHEN LISTENING TO SISTERS OF MERCY. 

A CALIFORNIAN LIVING IN PARIS SINCE 2003, RICK OWENS WAS WORRIED ABOUT LOSING TRACK OF HIS ROOTS. 'I WAS SO CONSCIOUS OF GETTING A FAKE EURO ACCENT, I STARTED EXAGGERATING MY CALIFORNIA ACCENT,' HE LAUGHS, 'SO NOW I'M A CARTOON.' IF THAT IS THE CASE, WE'RE NOT TALKING DISNEY. OWENS' SENSIBILITY IS MORE ALONG THE LINES OF TIM BURTON'S 'NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS,' OR EMILY THE STRANGE. IN SHORT, HE COULDN'T BE FURTHER FROM HIS FELLOW CALIFORNIAN JEREMY SCOTT IF HE TRIED. OWENS' VISION, AS HE HIMSELF ADMITS, IS TIED UP WITH THE MACABRE, THE DARK, THE SHADOWY AND, OF COURSE, THE GOTH. WITH HIS SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION, ENTITLED 'DUST,' HE USES 'MINIMALIST GOTH' AS BUZZWORDS FOR PALE GIRLS DRESSED IN LUXE BLACK LEATHER BASQUES, ARTFULLY FLARED COATS AND BOOTS COVERED WITH WHAT LOOKED LIKE SHINY BLACK BIN BAGS. THIS, AGAIN, LEADS BACK TO OWENS' ROOTS. 'AS A TEENAGER, I HAD HAIR SPIKES HELD UP WITH EGGWHITES, A ROSARY FROM NOSE TO EAR, AND CHANEL'S BISQUE FOUNDATION AND POWDER,' HE REMEMBERS. 'EVERYTHING ELSE WAS BLACK, OF COURSE.' OF COURSE. ON THE VERGE OF LAUNCHING HIS THIRD STORE – THIS TIME IN LONDON – CALIFORNIA'S FAVOURITE GOTH LET US INTO HIS LAIR. 

YOU MENTION 'MINIMALIST GOTH' FOR THE DUST COLLECTION. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT GOTHIC STYLE? 

RIGHT NOW, MY FAVORITE GOTH MOMENT IS TINA TURNER SINGING 'ACID QUEEN' IN 'TOMMY.' YOUTUBE IT. THERE'S SEX, DEATH, CAPES, PLATFORM BOOTS AND DRUGS. IT'S EXAGGERATED, SENSATIONAL AND SILLY. MY FAVOURITE THINGS. 

DO YOU HAVE INSPIRATIONS THAT YOU COME BACK TO ALL THE TIME? 

IT'S ALWAYS BACK TO BAUHAUS – THE DESIGN SCHOOL AND THE BAND. OPERA, TOUJOURS OPERA. OH, AND KISS. RECENTLY, AUTUMN/WINTER WAS INSPIRED BY JOYFUL AND PLAYFUL TRANSGRESSION. SPRING WAS MORE ABOUT RESTRAINT, DISCIPLINE AND SACRIFICE. 

BOTH COLLECTIONS SEEM TO SHOW A NEWLY SLICK RICK. 

I FEEL LIKE I'VE FINALLY LEARNED TO DRIVE MY MACHINE. WHEN YOU FIRST LEARN STICK SHIFT, YOU AWKWARDLY LURCH AND STALL, BUT GRADUALLY YOU LEARN TO SHIFT THE GEARS MORE SMOOTHLY. I KNEW HOW TO MAKE CLOTHES BUT HAD A LOT TO LEARN IN PRESENTATION. AND I HAD A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT COMMUNICATING WITH A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE IN A LOT OF LANGUAGES I DIDN'T KNOW, ACCORDING TO A LOT OF SCHEDULES THAT I HAD TO LEARN FOR THE FIRST TIME. I'D BEEN DOING IT FREESTYLE ON MY OWN FOR SO LONG. 

YOU DESIGN FURNITURE, DENIM AND JERSEY ALONG WITH THE MAIN LINE. IS IT DIFFICULT SWITCHING FROM EACH OF THEM? 

NOT REALLY. IT'S ALL PART OF THE SAME STORY. FURNITURE IS THE NEXT NATURAL HUMAN ENVELOPE AFTER CLOTHES, AND BUILDING IS THE NEXT AFTER THAT. I'M TALKING WITH SOME FRIENDS ABOUT A HOTEL. WOULDN'T THAT BE A COOL THING TO DO? 

IT WOULD INDEED. A NEW STORE IN LONDON IS FIRST, THOUGH. WHY THE UK? 

THE PARIS STORE WAS A FLUKE BECAUSE THAT SPACE BECAME AVAILABLE AND THE PALAIS ROYAL WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPOTS IN PARIS. I DIDN'T REALLY EXPECT IT TO BE SUCCESSFUL BUT IT SURPRISED US. SO WE BECAME OPEN TO THE IDEA OF OPENING STORES. AN OPPORTUNITY CAME UP IN NEW YORK; WE OPENED THAT LAST JULY AND THE RESULTS COULDN'T BE BETTER. I DON'T REALLY KNOW ABOUT LONDON, THOUGH. THEY SEEM PRETTY FANCY. I MIGHT NOT BE THEIR CUP OF TEA. WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. 

YOU'RE CERTAINLY WELL THOUGHT-OF IN LONDON, ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR SUPPORT OF GARETH PUGH. HOW DID YOU DISCOVER HIS WORK? 

HE INTERNED FOR ME AT REVILLON [THE FUR HOUSE WHERE OWENS WAS CREATIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL 2006] FOR HALF A MINUTE, BUT IT WAS MICHELE [LAMY, OWENS' WIFE AND BUSINESS PARTNER] WHO NURTURED HIM. SHE'S THE LOVING, OVERINDULGENT MOTHER AND I'M THE DISTANT, CRITICAL FATHER. MY FAITH IN GARETH STEMS FROM IDENTIFYING WITH HIM. HE'D BE MAKING CLOTHES IF WE WERE PAYING ATTENTION TO HIM OR NOT. HE HAS A FEROCIOUS FOCUS. 

WERE YOU PROUD TO SEE HIS FIRST SHOW IN PARIS? 

IT WAS ACTUALLY THE THIRD SHOW I'D EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE. THE FIRST WAS GAULTIER MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO, AND THE SECOND WAS RAF SIMONS TWO YEARS AGO. I WAS PROUD TO BE GARETH'S FRIEND. 

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHEN WAS YOUR OWN PROUDEST MOMENT? 

I WAS LISTENING TO THE SISTERS OF MERCY AS I WAS WALKING HOME ACROSS THE BRIDGE FROM PLACE DE LA CONCORDE ONE DAY AND FELT A SURGE OF EMOTION. IT WAS UNDER SUCH DIFFERENT CONDITIONS THAN THOSE IN WHICH I'D LISTENED TO THEM IN MY YOUTH. 

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MOVE FROM CALIFORNIA TO PARIS? 

PURELY PRACTICAL. I WAS MANUFACTURING IN ITALY AND IT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN RIGHT IF I WASN'T THERE A LOT. I WAS ALSO STARTING TO SHOW IN PARIS SO IT SEEMED THAT EUROPE WAS THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS HAPPENING FOR ME. 

WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT THE US? 

BLUNTNESS. 

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT PARIS? 

ITS ALOOF BEAUTY. 

WHICH OTHER DESIGNER DO YOU ADMIRE? 

LONG LIST. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FASHION ERA? 

THE THIRTIES AND FORTIES. 

WHAT MADE YOU DROP ART SCHOOL AND BECOME A DESIGNER? 

FEAR. ART WAS THE PRIESTHOOD AND FASHION WAS DISCO DANCING. 

WERE YOU ALWAYS INTO CLOTHES? 

I WAS A LATE BLOOMER. LOOKING BACK, I WISH I'D GONE FURTHER. 

YOU WERE SUPPORTED BY VOGUE AND THE CDFA FOR YOUR FIRST SHOWS. DO YOU WANT TO SUPPORT GARETH PUGH IN A SIMILAR WAY? 

I DON'T HAVE THAT POWER. VOGUE'S INITIAL ENDORSEMENT VALIDATED ME TO A LOT OF PEOPLE. MY SUPPORT FOR GARETH CAN ONLY HELP HIM MANUFACTURE HIS CLOTHES. THE REST IS UP TO HIM. AND HE'S DOING JUST FINE. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE RICK OWENS SIGNATURES?