HARRODS — HIS DARK MATERIALS — SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

THERE’S SOMETHING SPELLBINDING ABOUT THE RICK OWENS OEUVRE – AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT FROM A MAN WHO TRAVELS WITH AN EGYPTIAN SARCOPHAGUS. CLAUDIA CROFT HEADS FOR KNIGHTSBRIDGE AFTER HOURS TO CATCH UP WITH THE GROUNDBREAKING DESIGNER.

NIGHT FALLS OVER LONDON AND BRINGS A HUSH TO THE HALLOWED HALLS OF HARRODS. THE STORE IS CLOSED, BUT CLEARLY NOBODY HAS TOLD RICK OWENS, FASHION’S ‘LORD OF DARKNESS’, WHO ALONG WITH HIS WIFE, CREATIVE MICHÈLE LAMY, IS RUNNING RIOT THROUGH THE EMPTY STORE. THE PAIR ARE DRESSED HEAD-TO-PLATFORM-HEEL IN OWENS’ DESIGNS. A SHARP-SHOULDERED COAT AND SIGNATURE PERSPEX-HEELED KISS BOOTS FOR HIM; A SCULPTURAL JACKET AND LEGGINGS WITH PADDED FLARED BOOTS FOR HER, ARMS FULL OF BANGLES, OFFSET BY GOLD AND DIAMOND MOUTH JEWELLERY. “IT’S NICE AND EERIE AND SPOOKY,” SAYS OWENS APPROVINGLY OF THEIR AFTER-HOURS ADVENTURE, WHICH TAKES THEM ALL OVER THE STORE, FROM THE HELIDECK DOWN TO THE UNDERGROUND SERVICE TUNNEL (AT POINTS, DEEPER THAN THE PICCADILLY LINE) VIA THE WORLD-FAMOUS WOMENSWEAR FASHION FLOOR, HEAVING WITH THE LATEST DESIGNER LOOKS. “IT’S A TIDAL WAVE OF BEAUTY,” SAYS THE DESIGNER. “I’M JUST LOOKING AROUND THINKING, ‘GOD, WITH ALL OF THIS STUFF TO BUY, HOW WOULD PEOPLE EVER GET AROUND TO CHOOSING US?’”

BUT CHOOSE HIM THEY DO. THE DESIGNER HAS ALWAYS OFFERED SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE MAINSTREAM. “I HOPED TO GIVE EVERYONE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD AESTHETICS AND BEAUTY THAT WE SEE,” HE SAYS OF HIS SIGNATURE STYLE, WHICH STRETCHES FROM GOTHIC MINIMALISM TO HEROIC ALIEN GLAM-ROCK SWAGGER. HE DESCRIBES THE BLACK CONTACT LENSES THAT HIS MODELS WORE ON HIS AUTUMN/WINTER 2025 RUNWAY (INSPIRED BY MANGA CARTOON EYES) AS “MY RED LIPSTICK”; MEANWHILE, HIS BOLD SHOULDERS, SINUOUS DRAPES AND DRAMATIC SILHOUETTES EXUDE HIGH-PRIESTESS CHARISMA. EVEN HIS SIMPLE T-SHIRTS HAVE A SLINKY SENSUALITY. “I DON’T MIND IT,” HE SAYS OF HIS ‘DARK FASHION’ REPUTATION. “WHAT I DO AESTHETICALLY IS A LITTLE DARK, BECAUSE I’M TRYING TO PRESENT A CREATIVE GESTURE THAT ENCOMPASSES A WHOLE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. NOT ALL OF THAT IS CELEBRATORY. LIFE IS FULL OF GLORY AND HORROR. I FEEL LIKE WHAT I DO IS MORE AKIN TO ITALIAN REALIST MOVIES FROM THE ’40S THAN IT IS TO A DISNEY FANTASY.”

FOR AW25, HE EXPLORED THE IDEA OF THE ‘ESSENTIAL’ RICK OWENS LOOK, FOCUSING ON FINESSING HIS SIGNATURE CUTS AND ELONGATED SILHOUETTES. HIGH-COLLARED FLOOR-SWEEPING COATS, SPLIT-HEM MAXISKIRTS EMBELLISHED WITH LEATHER PETALS, PAGODA SHOULDER KNITS AND LUXURIOUS SHEARLING STOLES WERE WORN BY MODELS STRIDING OUT IN STRIKING LEATHER-WRAPPED PLATFORM BOOTS. AND FOOTWEAR (TOWERING PLATFORMS, INFLATABLE BOOTS, STRIKING THIGH-HIGHS…) PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE RICK OWENS UNIVERSE: “SHOES DICTATE HOW YOU NAVIGATE THE DAY. HEELS JUST MAKE YOU WALK A DIFFERENT WAY, ENTER A ROOM WITH A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE.”

DESPITE THE FIERCENESS OF HIS LOOK, OWENS’ APPROACH IS ROOTED IN OPENNESS, EMPATHY AND A DESIRE TO CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE, KINDER POINT OF VIEW COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL ANTAGONISTIC BINARIES. DRESSING UP, HE SAYS, IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THAT. “CLOTHES HAVE BEEN ABOUT COMMUNICATION SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME,” HE SAYS, RECALLING HOW, AS A YOUTH, HE WOULD EXPRESS HIS DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WORLD BY WEARING TORN AND DESTROYED CLOTHES. “BUT IT WAS ONLY NEGATIVE. AS I GREW OLDER, I THOUGHT, I CAN EXPRESS MY DISCOMFORT WITH THE STATUS QUO BY CONTRIBUTING SOMETHING ELSE. THAT IS A MORE POSITIVE ACTION.” NOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN HE GOES TO THE AIRPORT, HE MAKES SURE HE’S TAILORED TO PERFECTION: “I WEAR A COAT WITH A VERY PRECISE SHOULDER. I WEAR PLATFORM BOOTS. I’M TELEGRAPHING THAT I WANT TO CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE PRECISE AND FORMAL. FORMALITY IMPLIES POLITENESS, AND POLITENESS IMPLIES BEING KIND. SO THAT’S MY LITTLE EFFORT.”

THAT THOUGHTFULNESS IS WOVEN INTO EVERY PIECE HE MAKES. EVEN HIS MOST UTILITARIAN IDEAS COME WITH A TWIST OF PERSONAL LUXURY. THINK THE AW25 HOODIE, MADE FROM RIBBONS OF RUBBER ARRANGED ON THE BIAS THAT PULSE LIKE GILLS WITH EVERY STEP. OR HOW ABOUT THE APPARENT SIMPLICITY OF A MINIMALIST BOMBER JACKET, LINED WITH THE SOFTEST GLOVE LEATHER? “IT’S ALMOST MYSTICAL, ISN’T IT?” SAYS OWENS, OF THE APPEAL OF LEATHER AGAINST BARE SKIN. HE PLANS TO WEAR HIS LEATHER-LINED AW25 BOMBER ALL SEASON – “IT JUST FEELS SO DELICIOUS WHEN YOU SLIDE INTO IT. IT WAS SUCH A SIMPLE IDEA, BUT IT’S SUCH AN OPULENT THING TO DO FOR YOURSELF. IT’S THE MOST SIMPLE EXTRAVAGANCE THAT ANYBODY CAN RELATE TO.”

THAT PIECE GOES TO THE HEART OF OWENS’ DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: “MAKE THE SIMPLEST, MOST ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS AROUND YOU AS SUPERNATURAL AS POSSIBLE,” HE SAYS – AN APPROACH THAT EXTENDS TO HOW HE LIVES. “I HAVE A CUSTOM-MADE CARVED MARBLE TOILET BECAUSE I BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOU SHOULD BE AS SOPHISTICATED OR AS MAGICAL AS POSSIBLE.”

OWENS’ HOMES IN PARIS, VENICE AND CONCORDIA (THE SMALL ITALIAN TOWN WHERE HIS FACTORY IS BASED) ARE AUSTERE, FILLED WITH JUST A FEW BELOVED OBJECTS, INCLUDING A VIENNESE SECESSION SCULPTURE BY GEORGE MINNE AND AN EGYPTIAN SARCOPHAGUS – WHICH TRAVEL WITH HIM FROM HOME TO HOME – A SET OF ELIEL SAARINEN CHAIRS AND A HUMAN SKULL. BUT THEN, HE’S ALWAYS DONE THINGS HIS OWN WAY. BORN IN THE SMALL CALIFORNIA TOWN OF PORTERVILLE, HE DIDN’T GO TO FASHION SCHOOL OR INTERN WITH ESTABLISHED DESIGNERS; HIS FIRST STEPS CAME AS PATTERN CUTTER. HE LAUNCHED HIS OWN LINE IN 1994, AND WITH KATE MOSS AN EARLY ADOPTER OF HIS AESTHETIC – SPECIFICALLY THROUGH HIS LEATHER JACKETS – THE MOMENTUM BEGAN TO BUILD. AFTER INITIALLY SHOWING AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK (SS02 COLLECTIONS), HE WAS SOON ON THE MOVE AGAIN – TO PARIS IN 2003, WHERE HE ESTABLISHED OWENSCORP (WITH HIS WIFE) THE FOLLOWING YEAR. AND HIS OPERATIC TAKE ON CATWALK DRAMA HAS BEEN A HIGHLIGHT OF THE FASHION-SHOW LANDSCAPE EVER SINCE.

OWENS HAS HAD THE SAME ITALIAN BUSINESS PARTNERS, ELSA LANZO AND LUCA RUGGERI, FOR ALMOST A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, BUT THE DESIGNER RETAINS CREATIVE AND FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE. THAT’S A DYNAMIC HE’S HUGELY GRATEFUL FOR – AND WHICH HAS CLEARLY BEEN CRUCIAL. “IT ALLOWED ME TO DEVELOP,” HE REFLECTS SIMPLY. “IF I HAD JOINED A BIG HOUSE – NOT THAT ANYONE’S ASKING ME – BUT IF I HAD JOINED A BIG HOUSE, MY CAREER MIGHT HAVE BEEN OVER A LONG TIME AGO.”

MUSING ON THE KIND OF CREATOR HE ASPIRES TO BE, HE SAYS, “I WANT TO BE SOMEBODY WHO IS CONSISTENT FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END.” IT’S FAIR TO SAY MISSION ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR: HE’S CURRENTLY BEING HONOURED WITH A HUGE RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION AT THE PALAIS GALLIERA IN PARIS (RUNNING UNTIL EARLY JANUARY 2026), WHICH CHARTS HIS REMARKABLE JOURNEY AND THE STEADFAST CONSISTENCY OF HIS LOOK. A POWERHOUSE OF DEFIANT MINIMALIST GOTHIC GLAMOUR, OWENS WALKS HIS OWN PATH; HE DOESN’T FOLLOW TRENDS, PREFERRING INSTEAD TO EXPAND UPON HIS SINGULAR AESTHETIC EACH SEASON. HE’S IN FASHION… BUT ALSO BEYOND IT. TIMELESS.