10 MAGAZINE – FALL 2014 – RICK OWENS: HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD (NOIR) – BY ALEXANDER FURY - JANUARY 2015

JANUARY 2015

MEETING RICK OWENS THE MORNING AFTER THE ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY IS AN ODD EXPERIENCE. USUALLY, OWENS WOULD BE IN THE THROES OF PREPARATION FOR HIS OWN-LABEL SHOW ON THAT DATE, BUT THIS YEAR'S OSCARS WERE PUSHED BACK TO
THE BEGINNING OF MARCH. MEANING THAT OWENS COULD WATCH THE ACTION LIVE, SHOULD HE SO CHOOSE. HE CHOSE NOT TO – ALTHOUGH HIS WIFE AND BUSINESS PARTNER, MICHÈLE LAMY, DID. OWENS YAWNS, BECAUSE HE SLEPT ON THE SOFA WHILE LAMY WATCHED THE EARLY-HOURS CEREMONY IN BED.

'SHE'S MAD ABOUT THE OSCARS,' HE CONFESSED IN
A CALIFORNIAN DRAWL THAT BETRAYS HIS BIRTHPLACE AND HIS FORMATIVE YEARS IN LOS ANGELES. OWENS NEVER MOVED TO NEW YORK, SO HIS ACCENT REMAINS WEST COAST LANGUID – PEPPERED WITH GNARLY BILL & TED-ESQUE TURNS OF PHRASE, SUCH AS 'LIKE' AND 'YOU KNOW' – RATHER THAN EAST COAST STACCATO. HE HAS BEEN BASED IN PARIS SINCE 2003, BUT DOESN'T SPEAK FRENCH.

THOSE ARE THE INCIDENTALS, BUT IDEOLOGICALLY IT FEELS ODD TO THINK OF OWENS AND THE OSCARS. DESPITE LIVING AND BUILDING HIS BUSINESS IN LOS ANGELES, THERE IS NO LESS-'STARRY' DESIGNER WORKING IN ALL OF FASHION THAN OWENS. IF HE DOES AN EVENING GOWN, IT'S LIKELY TO BE IN PILLED GREY CASHMERE WITH A TRAIN TRAILING IN THE MUD, OR IN MULTIPLE LAYERS OF CELLOPHANE THAT END UP RESEMBLING THE SHOWER CURTAIN FROM PSYCHO. AT THE SAME TIME, THE RICK OWENS DISTRESSED LEATHER JACKET – ASYMMETRIC, SUPER-SKINNY OF
ARM AND FLUTTERING OF HEM – HAS BECOME THE GO-TO GARB FOR STARLETS, HARLOTS AND 'ZOEBOTS' IN THE MINIMAL LA STRUT FROM STRETCH HUMMER TO STARBUCKS, DESPITE ITS LACK OF HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR.

MAYBE THAT SHOULD BE LACK OF 'CONVENTIONAL' HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR – BECAUSE, TO OWENS'S EYES, THERE IS GLAMOUR IN HIS SHROUD-LIKE SHAPES, HIS TULLES AND MULTIPLE-WASHED WOOLS AND SILKS, HIS CREASED AND CRUMPLED LAYERS. OWENS ISN'T ANTI-GLAMOUR, OR EVEN ANTI- FASHION, HE'S ANTI-CONVENTION. AND UNLIKE JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER CONTEMPORARY PURVEYOR OF STAR-SPANGLED EVENING FROCKS, OWENS IS A CALIFORNIAN COUTURIER THROUGH AND THROUGH.

HE IS ALSO, TO BORROW THE PARLANCE OF THAT QUINTESSENTIALLY LOS ANGELEAN HEROINE CHER HOROWITZ, A TOTALLY IMPORTANT DESIGNER.

ALEXANDER FURY: 'HOW LONG DID YOU LIVE IN LA? WAS THAT WHERE YOU WERE BROUGHT UP?'


RICK OWENS: 'NO, I WAS JUST THERE IN MY WILD YEARS, THE PERIOD YOU BLOSSOM INTO YOURSELF – SO MY GLORY YEARS, I SUPPOSE. IN MY TWENTIES, BASICALLY. AND THAT'S WHERE I REALLY GOT STARTED AND THAT'S WHERE I REALLY KIND OF BECAME... THAT WAS KIND OF THE KERNEL OF EVERYTHING THAT I DO, I SUPPOSE. THAT'S WHEN I FIRST STARTED LEARNING TO DO WHAT I DO.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'HAS IT INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU DESIGN?'


RICK OWENS: 'I MEAN, I LOOK AT THE 1930S WHEN I THINK OF WOMEN'S CLOTHES. THAT'S THE ERA THAT I LIKE, THAT BLACK- AND-WHITE, HOLLYWOOD, LANGUOROUS ERA. I THINK IT'S PARTLY THAT, AND IT'S PARTLY ME GROWING UP – THE THINGS THAT MADE THE MOST SENSE. EVERYTHING I DO THAT
IS SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS IS SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS, THE SIMPLEST THINGS, AND THEN
I JUST GO FROM THERE. LIKE, WHAT IS THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL, PRIMAL THING THAT YOU WOULD WEAR IN THE JUNGLE IF YOU LIVED THERE BY YOURSELF? AND THEN KIND OF ELABORATE FROM THERE. WITH MEN'S IT'S VERY MUCH ABOUT ICONIC MASCULINITY, THE THINGS THAT MAKE MEN HISTORICALLY LOOK THE MOST NOBLE.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'WHICH IS TRUE OF A LOT OF YOUR WOMENSWEAR, TOO, ACTUALLY. BUT DOES YOUR APPROACH TO CLOTHING DIFFER ACCORDING TO GENDER?'

RICK OWENS: 'OH YEAH. WITH MEN... MEN HAVE A SMALLER MARGIN TO FLIRT. WITH WOMEN, THERE'S A BIGGER COMFORT LEVEL TO EXAGGERATE, TO BE COQUETTISH. I THINK, BOTTOM LINE, WHAT MEN ARE GOING FOR IS A SENSE OF PROPRIETY, MASCULINITY AND, ABOVE ALL, A KIND OF DIGNITY. WOMEN CAN AFFORD TO BE MORE PLAYFUL. I THINK, WITH MEN, IT'S HARD FOR THEM TO WANT TO APPEAR AS IF THEY ARE TRYING TO BE ALLURING – WITH WOMEN IT'S ACCEPTABLE. WITH MEN, TRYING TO LOOK ALLURING, IT'S PROBLEMATIC. DEFINITELY WITH WOMAN THERE IS A LOT OF LEEWAY TO BE EXTRAVAGANT, TO BE AMUSING, TO BE WITTY, TO BE COQUETTISH, AND TO A CERTAIN EXTENT THAT APPLIES TO MEN, TOO
– BUT TO A LOT SMALLER DEGREE. THERE'S DEFINITELY A BIG DIVIDE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.'


ALEXANDER FURY: 'YOUR AESTHETIC IS VERY DISTINCT AND VERY STRONG AND VERY INDIVIDUAL.'

RICK OWENS: 'IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'WELL, I THINK EVERY DESIGNER'S AESTHETIC IS SUPPOSED TO BE, BUT VERY FEW ACTUALLY GET THAT. BUT I WONDER IF THAT'S POSSIBLY BECAUSE, WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED, THERE WAS THAT PERIOD WHEN IT WAS OUTSIDE OF THIS CATWALK-SHOW SYSTEM.'


RICK OWENS: 'I WONDER. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO DO A RICK OWENS RIGHT NOW; THAT WAS BEFORE THE CALENDAR WAS AS CROWDED AS IT IS, AND I HAD, LIKE, THIS OUTSIDER, WEIRDO KIND OF SPACE IN TIME WHERE ENOUGH PEOPLE HAD... KIND OF ABSORBED ME, AND THAT KIND OF STOOD WITH ME FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. I DON'T KNOW WHO CAN DO THAT ANY MORE, WHO HAS THAT SPACE AROUND THEM.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'DO YOU THINK BEING BASED IN LA HELPED WITH THAT – TO MAKE IT KIND OF AN OUTSIDER PERSPECTIVE FROM THE REST OF AMERICAN FASHION? THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTANCE HELPS WITH THE IDEOLOGICAL DISTANCE?'

RICK OWENS: 'WELL, I WOULD SAY IT
GAVE ME MORE TIME TO DEVELOP MYSELF, BUT I DON'T THINK I CAME [TO PARIS] THAT FULLY DEVELOPED, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH. I THINK I DEVELOPED MYSELF AFTER I GOT HERE, SO IT WASN'T THAT. I SUPPOSE IT GAVE ME, LIKE... IT MADE ME MORE ATTRACTIVE AS AN OUTSIDER. IT GAVE ME AN OUTSIDER/OUTLAW KIND OF THING. THAT WAS A NICE LABEL.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'I GUESS MAYBE THAT MADE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO PIGEONHOLE AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE DOING... '


RICK OWENS: 'THE THING THAT IS MY ABSOLUTE BASE IS I SOLD CLOTHES FOR YEARS BEFORE I DID RUNWAY. SO I HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE RETAILERS AND I SOLD MY CLOTHES MYSELF. IT WAS VERY ONE-ON-ONE; IT WASN'T A SHOWROOM, IT WAS ME UP THERE IN THE BACK OFFICE OF THEIR STORES, SHOOTING THE SHIT AND HAVING COFFEE AND LOOKING AT
THE CLOTHES AND TALKING ABOUT WHAT WAS WORKING AND WHAT WASN'T. AND IT WAS, LIKE, THE MRS BURSTEINS – I DIDN'T SHOOT THE SHIT WITH MRS BURSTEIN THAT MUCH, BUT I DID PRESENT MY CLOTHES TO HER. YOU KNOW, JOYCE FROM HONG KONG AND ALL THOSE PEOPLE. IT WAS ALL ABOUT THAT. IT
WAS REALLY ABOUT SELLING CLOTHES BEFORE DOING RUNWAY, SO THAT IT WAS VERY RETAIL- BASED, SO THAT GAVE ME A DIFFERENT KIND OF FOUNDATION, I THINK.'


ALEXANDER FURY: 'IT'S KIND OF ANTI-FASHION
IN A WAY AS WELL, BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF CLOTHES RATHER THAN FASHION, IN A SENSE... I DON'T WANT
TO SAY CREATING A PRODUCT, BUT CREATING GARMENTS THAT PEOPLE REALLY WEAR... WHAT PEOPLE ARE RESPONDING TO, I GUESS... '


RICK OWENS: 'YEAH, FOR A WEIRDO, I HAVE A VERY PRACTICAL STREAK. IT WAS VERY MUCH COMMERCIALLY BASED, IN A FUNNY WAY. BUT I MEAN, THERE WAS DEFINITELY ROMANCE THERE, TOO.'


ALEXANDER FURY: 'DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK AS ANTI-FASHION, AS KIND OF A STAND AGAINST THE FASHION ESTABLISHMENT?'


RICK OWENS: 'SOMETIMES I THINK I DO. WHEN I FIRST STARTED OUT, ONE OF MY DESIRES WAS TO CORRUPT FROM WITHIN. I'VE ALWAYS KIND OF RESENTED THE FACT
THAT WHAT THEY PUT ON THE RUNWAY IS EXAGGERATED AND IS RADICAL AND IS KIND
OF SAVED ONLY FOR THE RUNWAY. MY IDEA, WHEN I FIRST STARTED MAKING CLOTHES, WAS I WANTED TO BRING A RADICAL SILHOUETTE TO EVERYDAY LIFE. I WANTED TO – NOT MAKE IT LESS SPECIAL – BUT I WANTED TO MAKE EVERY DAY SPECIAL. THE MOST RADICAL SILHOUETTE – IF IT'S SOFTENED IN GREY AND THE MATERIALS ARE MORE NEUTRALISED – I LIKED THE IDEA OF SNEAKING IT INTO DAYTIME. WHEN I FIRST STARTED OUT I WAS DOING A LOT OF GREY CASHMERE SKIRTS WITH TRAINS THAT I INSISTED PEOPLE SHOULD WEAR DURING THE DAYTIME
– AND PEOPLE DID. I FELT LIKE THAT WAS KIND OF A TRIUMPH. I MEAN, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE DID, BUT I FELT THAT, IN A SMALL WAY, IT WAS KIND OF ONE OF THE MOST PUNK-ROCK THINGS I COULD DO WITH CLOTHES. SO IT'S NOT REALLY ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT – I SUPPOSE IT'S ANTI-CONVENTION. LATER ON, GRADUALLY, AS TIME HAS GONE ON, I'VE MAYBE OUTGROWN A LITTLE BIT OF THAT ADOLESCENT REACTION, BUT THEN AGAIN, I HAVEN'T. SOMETIMES I THINK I HAVE, BUT NO, I HAVEN'T, IT'S STILL THERE AND
I PROBABLY EVEN CELEBRATE IT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'I WONDER, AS YOU OBVIOUSLY MOVED FROM LA TO WORK IN PARIS, DO YOU FEEL THAT MOVE AFFECTED THE CLOTHES YOU MAKE? HAS IT SHIFTED YOUR AESTHETIC?'

RICK OWENS: 'IT HAS PROBABLY SHIFTED IN THE RUNWAY THING. YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW, THOUGH. IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY BECAUSE
I WAS JUST AS ISOLATED IN LOS ANGELES AS I AM IN PARIS. IT'S VERY MUCH THE SAME THING. I WORK AT HOME, SO IT'S HOME, THE GYM, A COUPLE OF RESTAURANTS AROUND THE HOUSE... BUT I THINK THE WHOLE RUNWAY EXPERIENCE MEANS YOU HAVE TO RISE TO
THE OCCASION... IT'S CHALLENGING – MORE CHALLENGING BUT IN A WONDERFUL WAY. YEAH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'I WAS INTERESTED WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW 1930S HOLLYWOOD INFLUENCED YOUR MOODS, BECAUSE I THINK, FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, THINKING ABOUT YOUR WORK, IT DOESN'T LINK IN WITH THAT KIND OF IDEA THAT PEOPLE HAVE OF LA FASHION AND, SPECIFICALLY, OF THAT KIND OF OLD- HOLLYWOOD THING.'


RICK OWENS: 'WELL, MY LOS ANGELES – THERE WAS HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD AND IT WAS VERY MUCH ABOUT OLD HOLLYWOOD
AND LEGENDS AND A KIND OF MYTHOLOGY
OF HOLLYWOOD. BLACK-AND-WHITE HOLLYWOOD. PEOPLE THINK OF LOS ANGELES AS A DIFFERENT THING, SO MINE WAS KIND OF
A NICHE LOS ANGELES. VERY DECREPIT – THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WHERE I LIVED, IT WAS, 'THIS STAR OVERDOSED IN THIS APARTMENT BUILDING' AND 'CECIL B DEMILLE USED TO LIVE OVER HERE', SO IT WAS KIND OF ALL THAT.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'I GUESS THERE IS A WEIRD TRAGEDY TO THAT – IT'S WEIRDLY TIED IN WITH THAT HOLLYWOOD STAR SYSTEM AND HOW WHEN IT BROKE DOWN, IT BROKE THE PEOPLE... '


RICK OWENS: 'I WAS LIVING IN THE RESIDUE OF OLD HOLLYWOOD.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'THE DAY OF THE LOCUST?'

RICK OWENS: 'YES. THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE I LIVED, AND IT FELT LIKE THAT! IT FELT LIKE THE RESIDUE OF IT BUT I LOVED IT. THAT WAS THE BEST PART ABOUT IT.'

ALEXANDER FURY: 'DO YOU THINK IT KIND OF MADE YOU RE-APPROACH THAT OLD IDEA OF GLAMOUR – OUR VERY STATIC IDEA OF GLAMOUR – IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY?'