After a long reign as the only Gothic game in town, Rick Owens suddenly has company in his ultraspecific, extreme genre. Lest any newcomers challenge his rule, Owens showed one of his most daring collections in recent memory Thursday at the Palais de Tokyo, not by delving further into the darkness but by stepping away from it.
For spring, his shadowy world was populated with majestic beauties, each crowned with a sculpted horn hair comb, in silhouettes that approached the classically feminine. At the outset, there were Empire shapes with leather jackets and vests cut away over extralong skirts, either gathered in pleats or cut in a slim column with a pointed train. Molded tunics flared over the hips for an hourglass effect, and a few finale gowns fell into loose Grecian pleats. Done in Owens’ standard monochromatic palette — white, gray, brown and moss green — the total effect was supreme elegance that didn’t lose a bit of that all-important edge.
The collection’s signature aerodynamic outerwear and experimental volumes were approached from a minimalist position with clean lines and simple cuts, all with major potential for mainstream crossover. So much so that the series of short, strapless dresses done with plain bodices over folded gazar skirts could be — make that should be — on a red carpet sometime soon. via WWD.
