ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST — RICK OWENS’S NEW MANHATTAN STORE SHOWCASES THE DESIGNER’S FURNITURE — DECEMBER 2016 — BY DANA THOMAS

DECEMBER 2016

AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER RICK OWENS IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS LUXURIOUS GOTH-INFUSED CLOTHES. BUT HE HAS ANOTHER PASSION, TOO: FURNITURE, WHICH HE DESIGNS AND PRODUCES IN COLLABORATION WITH HIS FRENCH WIFE, MICHÈLE LAMY. ‘IT STARTED OUT AS A PRIVATE THING—SOMETHING WE WERE DOING FOR OURSELVES,’ OWENS SAYS, SITTING IN HIS PARIS STUDIO EARLIER THIS FALL. ‘WE NEEDED A NEW BED. THEN WE THOUGHT, A COUCH WOULD BE NICE.’ NOW HIS BRAND’S NEW MANHATTAN STORE IS FILLED WITH SITE-SPECIFIC PIECES, A FORTHCOMING BOOK ON THE COUPLE’S INTERIORS IS BEING PUBLISHED BY RIZZOLI, AND AN EXHIBITION OF THEIR NEO-PALEOLITHIC FURNITURE (A SHOW OWENS CALLS ‘A LOVE LETTER TO MICHÈLE’) WILL OPEN DECEMBER 17 AT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, LOS ANGELES (MOCA).

‘THE RICK OWENS WORLD IS VERY CLOSED. I WORK IN AN ISOLATED WAY,’ HE EXPLAINS. ‘MICHÈLE WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW, AND THE FURNITURE BECAME HER BABY.’ THE WAY THEY WORK TOGETHER IS STRAIGHTFORWARD: OWENS SKETCHES PIECES AND SHOWS THEM TO LAMY. ‘SHE EITHER FROWNS OR GETS INTO IT,’ HE SAYS WITH A LAUGH. IF SHE EMBRACES A DESIGN, SHE USES WHAT OWENS CALLS HER ‘CHAOS MAGIC’ TO EXECUTE IT WITH TEAMS OF ARTISANS. ‘THAT’S THE PART SHE LOVES—ORCHESTRATING,’ HE SAYS. ‘SHE’S LIKE AN OLD-FASHIONED SALONISTE.’ STOOLS AND BENCHES COMBINE STARK GEOMETRIC FORMS WITH SCULPTURAL ANTLERS, SLEIGHLIKE RECAMIERS MIX HUMBLE PLYWOOD AND LUXE LEATHER, AND MONOLITHIC BEDS ARE CRAFTED OUT OF ALABASTER BLOCKS.

WHEN OWENS CONCEIVED THE NEW YORK STORE—AN 8,000-SQUARE-FOOT SPACE ON THE CORNER OF HOWARD AND CROSBY STREETS—HE HAD A PRECISE IDEA. ‘I WANTED TO MAKE IT AS REDUCTIVE AS POSSIBLE—FUR AND ROCK NEXT TO A FIRE IN A CAVE.’ HE CAME UP WITH BENCHES AND DISPLAY TABLES HE NOW DESCRIBES AS ‘BOULDERS’ THAT HAVE ‘FACETS DERIVED FROM WORLD WAR II GERMAN BUNKERS, EILEEN GRAY LINES, JEAN-MICHEL FRANK RESTRAINT, ROBERT MALLET-STEVENS GEOMETRY, AND CLAUDE PARENT’S FASCINATION WITH THE OBLIQUE.’ LAMY HAD VERSIONS MADE IN STYROFOAM, ROCK CRYSTAL, AND CONCRETE AND COVERED SOME WITH CAMEL FUR—A MATERIAL SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH WHILE TRAVELING IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

OWENS PLACED THE PIECES THROUGHOUT THE STORE, SOMETIMES STACKING THEM LIKE TOWERS, AN EXERCISE HE LIKENS TO ‘KIDS PLAYING WITH ROCKS AND MAKING A FANTASY WORLD.’ THE BOUTIQUE’S FURNITURE IS NOT FOR SALE (‘THE STORES SELL CLOTHES,’ OWENS EXPLAINS), BUT OTHER WORKS ARE SHOWN AT FAIRS BY SALON 94, AMONG HIS OTHER GALLERIES.