VOGUE — RICK OWENS COLLABORATES WITH DR. MARTENS ON BOOTS THAT NOD TO HIS LOS ANGELES YOUTH — 15 MARCH 2021 — BY STEFF YOTKA

MARCH 15 2021

RICK OWENS HAS REALLY FIGURED OUT THIS POD THING. WHEN HE FACETIMES FROM HIS FACTORY IN CONCORDIA, ITALY, HE IS FRESHLY BACK FROM A TOUR OF ROME, ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL READY-TO-WEAR SHOW ON THE VENICE LIDO, AND IS NOW OCCUPIED WITH HOW TO MAKE HIS ITALIAN COMPLEX A LITTLE BIT MORE HOMEY FOR HIMSELF AND HIS TEAM. ‘I REALIZED THAT EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE SOLAR PANELS, WE HAVE ENOUGH SPACE TO HAVE SUNSET COCKTAILS ON THE ROOFTOP, SO WE’RE GOING TO FIX THAT UP. THERE’S AN AREA THAT I’M PRETTY SURE WE CAN TURN INTO A VEGETABLE GARDEN FOR OUR CAFE BECAUSE WE HAVE A LITTLE CAFE HERE THAT WE ALL EAT AT—I’M GOING TO WORK ON THE MENU A LITTLE BIT TOO… AND MAYBE WE’RE GOING TO GET A CHICKEN COOP. WOULDN’T THAT BE AWESOME? OUR OWN EGGS.’

CLEARLY RICK OWENS IS THRIVING. BUT EVEN SOMEONE AS FORWARD-THINKING AS HE IS CAN INDULGE IN A LITTLE RETROSPECTION. A NEW COLLABORATION WITH DR. MARTENS ON EIGHT-HOLE BOOTS WITH HIS SIGNATURE LACING HAS OWENS REFLECTING ON HIS OWN PAST AND REMEMBERING A TIME BEFORE HE HAD EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT.

‘ANYTHING RELATED TO DR. MARTENS JUST LEADS ME BACK TO THE ‘80S AND L.A.,’ HE BEGINS OVER THE PHONE. ‘I WAS THINKING OF RON ATHEY, BECAUSE RON ATHEY WAS MY FIRST STRONG FASHION IMPRESSION IN L.A. WHEN I FIRST STARTED I HAD A BIG CRUSH ON RON ATHEY.’

FOR THE UNINFORMED, ATHEY IS A PROLIFIC PERFORMANCE ARTIST WHO SPECIALIZES IN BODY MODIFICATION. (OWENS CITES ATHEY’S PRINTING PRESS, A PERFORMANCE IN WHICH A COLLABORATOR’S BACK IS SLASHED AND THEIR BLOOD IS PRESSED ONTO TOWELS THAT ARE HUNG OVER THE AUDIENCE, AS A FAVORITE.) ‘WHEN I KNEW HIM, HE WAS WORKING AT POSEUR ON MELROSE AVENUE,’ OWENS SAYS. ‘IT WAS SO INTIMIDATING. IT WAS LIKE THE AUTHENTIC PUNK PLACE WHERE YOU BOUGHT REAL EXPENSIVE BONDAGE TROUSERS—AND RON WORKED THERE. I HAD A JOB SCOUTING PUNKS FOR SOME TERRIBLE MOVIE, I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE MOVIE, BUT I HAD TO SCOUT PUNKS FOR A NIGHTCLUB SCENE. I DON’T KNOW HOW I GOT THIS JOB BECAUSE I WASN’T AN AUTHENTIC PUNK AT ALL. BUT THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I MET RON BECAUSE I WENT LOOKING ON MELROSE AVENUE AND I APPROACHED HIM. HE DIDN’T HAVE A RIDE, SO I GAVE HIM A RIDE THAT MORNING TO THE SET AND FELL IN LOVE—HE WAS JUST SO AMAZING LOOKING. I HAVE A REALLY GREAT PICTURE THAT I’M GOING TO SEND YOU.’

AFTER THE CALL IMAGES OF A 20-SOMETHING GUY WITH HAIR SPIKED INTO A DOZEN PEAKS AND A NOSE RING CONNECTED TO HIS EARRING LIGHT UP MY PHONE SCREEN. ‘THIS IS EXACTLY HOW HE LOOKED WHEN I FIRST MET HIM. WE WERE BOTH 20 OR SOMETHING. HE KIND OF REPRESENTED THAT WORLD OF PUNK AUTHENTICITY TO ME.’ IN THE FOUR DECADES SINCE, OWENS AND ATHEY HAVE REMAINED FRIENDS. TWO MORE PHONE ALERTS REVEAL THE ARTIST, NOW LIVING IN LONDON, WEARING A GLIMMERING COAT FROM OWENS’S SPRING 2019 BABEL COLLECTION.

OWENS’S RECOLLECTIONS OF GROWING UP AN ASPIRING PUNK IN CALIFORNIA ARE DEFINITELY A ‘YOU REALLY HAD TO BE THERE’ MOMENT. BUT THAT’S PART OF THE APPEAL OF DOC MARTENS—THE TOUGH BOOTS HAVE BEEN AN ENTRÉE FOR MANY INTO THE WORLDS OF STYLE, SELF-EXPRESSION, SEXUALITY, AND MUSIC.

THE DR. MARTENS COLLABORATION COMPLETES A TRIFECTA OF EVERY-PERSON SHOES THAT OWENS HAS PUT HIS SPIN ON; FIRST CAME BIRKENSTOCKS AND CONVERSE, AND NOW DOCS. PREVIOUSLY, HE DID PROJECTS WITH ADIDAS AND VEJA. ‘THERE ARE PEOPLE, I THINK, WHO SEE ME DOING THESE COLLABS AND THINK I’M A SELL-OUT. I GET IT,’ HE SAYS. ‘BUT I ALSO THINK OF IT AS CORRUPTING FROM WITHIN. IF WE’RE ABLE TO, WITH EACH OF OUR COLLABORATIONS, ENCOURAGE COMPANIES TO PUSH A LITTLE FURTHER WITH THEIR ETHICAL THINKING, WITH THEIR SUSTAINABILITY—THAT’S A GREAT THING. WE CAN PUSH THE ENVELOPE FROM INSIDE.’

BECOMING MORE MAINSTREAM IS SOMETHING THAT OWENS HAS TOUCHED ON OF LATE. ‘I’M NOT EXACTLY NICHE,’ HE TOLD ME DURING AN INSTAGRAM LIVE CHAT IN JANUARY. AT THE TIME I BALKED, BUT, YOU KNOW, HE’S RIGHT. IN THE SAME WAY DOCS ARE A GATEWAY DRUG INTO STYLE, SO RICK HAS BECOME AN ENTRY POINT INTO FASHION. IT’S ALWAYS EVOLVING: HIS GEOBASKET KIDS HAVE BECOME KISS BOOT KIDS; MAYBE THEY’LL BECOME DR. MARTENS KIDS TOO.

WHEN ASKED WHERE HE BOUGHT HIS OWN FIRST PAIR OF GATEWAY DRUG DOCS, OWENS COULDN’T REMEMBER. ‘YOU KNOW I DON’T EVER THINK I WENT INTO POSEUR!’ HE SAYS OF THE FOUNDATIONAL PUNK STORE ON MELROSE AVE. ‘I WAS AFRAID I WOULD BE FOUND OUT, THAT I WASN’T A REAL PUNK.’

WHO CAN’T RELATE? WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, TRYING TO EMULATE COURTNEY LOVE AND GWEN STEFANI, I WOULD LOITER OUTSIDE OF TRASH AND VAUDEVILLE ON SAINT MARK’S PLACE RATHER THAN GO IN, LEST THEY FIND OUT I WAS ‘JUST A TEENAGER FROM NEW JERSEY.’

LAUGHING, OWENS SAYS, ‘WE’RE ALL JUST A TEENAGER FROM NEW JERSEY!’