DAPPER DAN — ON ACHIEVEMENT, FULFILMENT AND ACCEPTANCE — FALL/WINTER 2025 — By ANGELO FLACCAVENTO

UNTIL 4TH JANUARY 2026, RICK OWENS, THE RATHER DESECRATING HERALD OF GLAMOROUS ABANDON, THE OFFICIANT OF THE FLAWED FASHION CULT CALLING IN ALL SORTS OF FREAKS, OUTCASTS AND WEIRDOS, IS BEING CONSECRATED WITH A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION ENTITLED TEMPLE OF LOVE AT PALAIS GALLIERA IN PARIS. IT’S A RARE OCCURRENCE TO HAVE A CELEBRATION SO GRAND AS A LIVING DESIGNER IN SUCH A VENERABLE INSTITUTION: A PRIVILEGE RESERVED ONLY TO A BUNCH OF OUTSTANDING AUTHORS, TO WHICH OWENS CLEARLY BELONGS. THE OCCASION, HOWEVER, IS EVEN MORE SINGULAR IF ONE CONSIDERS HOW LATERAL, SPECIFIC AND UNEASY OWENS’ VISION IS, AND THE FACT THAT IT ORIGINATED FAR FROM THE CENTER OF FASHION-LAND IN LOS ANGELES: MILES IF NOT LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM PARIS, THE FASHION CAPITAL THAT WELCOMES EVERYONE BUT ONLY COMMENDS THE FEW WHO HAVE TRUE VALUE. THE RICK OWENS AESTHETIC IS A CELEBRATION OF CONFRONTATIONAL OTHERNESS THAT INITIALLY MARRIED ELEGANCE AND DECAY, AND HAS TURNED MORE AND MORE GROTESQUE, ANGULAR AND THEATRICAL IN RECENT YEARS. APROPOS, ON THE DAY OF THE OPENING, 26TH JUNE, AS THE FLOCK OF GHOULISH, CARICATURALLY BLACK OWENISTAS RAIDED THE GARDENS AND THE NOBLE INTERIORS OF THE GALLIERA, SEEMINGLY JUST OUT OF THEIR BRUTALIST CAVES, ASSOCIATE CURATOR ALEXANDRE SAMSON UTTERED, “IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THE GENERAL PUBLIC, THE MUSEUM ATTENDEES WHO ARE NOT SO WELL VERSED IN THE OWENS VERNACULAR, WILL REACT TO ALL OF THIS. WORKING FOR A PUBLIC INSTITUTION, THE AUDIENCE I HAVE IN MIND IS THEM, NOT THE LITERATE FASHION PEOPLE”. ALL OF THIS INCLUDES, OF COURSE, OWENS’ RATHER EXTREME CREATIONS AS WELL AS A LIFE-SIZE STATUE OF THE DESIGNER PISSING, ASSORTED PERVERTED PARAPHERNALIA AND A RECONSTRUCTION OF OWENS’ AND HIS SPOUSE MICHÈLE LAMY’S BEDROOM IN THE BACK OF THEIR ORIGINAL NORTH LAS PALMAS STORE IN LA.

“I’VE ACHIEVED MORE THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE, AND GOT MORE RECOGNITION [THAN] I COULD EVER DREAM OF,” OWENS SAYS IN HIS MELLOW, TRANCE-INDUCING VOICE OVER ZOOM FROM THE LIDO IN VENEZIA, WHERE HE OWNS A HOUSE IN WHICH HE SPENDS THE SUMMERS WITH HIS FAMILY. IT’S 7PM ON A FRIDAY AT THE END OF AUGUST. OWENS IS BACK FROM A LONG DAY AT THE BEACH. “WE HAD A LOVELY LUNCH ALL TOGETHER, AND OUR GRANDCHILDREN WERE WITH US,” HE RECOUNTS, LIGHTING UP IN A BRIGHT SMILE, SOUNDING LIKE A FAMILY MAN RATHER THAN THE KING OF SLEAZE, WHICH IS HOW HE FASHIONED HIS PERSONA AS A DESIGNER. NOT THAT THE TWO THINGS ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. WHAT MAKES OWENS FASCINATING IS THE BUNDLE OF GLARING CONTRADICTIONS HE EXPRESSES, WHICH HE IS ALSO ABLE TO VERBALIZE DUE TO A UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL WAY WITH WORDS, AS EVIDENCED BY THE ELOQUENT, IN-CAPS-LOCK PRESS RELEASES HE PERSONALLY PENS. TODAY HE IS IN A TANK TOP, LOOKING VERY LAID BACK AND SUMMERY. ON REGULAR DAYS, HIS TRADEMARK BLACK UNIFORM OF A BROAD-SHOULDERED TATLIN COAT OR BOMBER, INSTEAD, CONVEYS AT ONCE IDEAS OF A MONASTIC RETREAT AND INDULGENT ABANDON. HE WEARS SNEAKERS WHEN HE WORKS OR IS IN THE HOUSE, AND THE INFAMOUS KISS BOOTS WITH A STACK HEEL AND PLATFORM WHEN HE IS OUT, TO ENTICE CONFRONTATION. AND YET, AT PRESENT, HE IS BEING EMBRACED, BIG TIME. “IT’S QUITE EXTREME TO BE SO LOVED AND SO ACCEPTED,” HE GOES ON. “ACCEPTANCE IS A DEEPLY MOTIVATIONAL FEELING, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT ALL MY WORK IS A REACTION TO REJECTION.” THE ELATED RESPONSE TO THE EXHIBITION HAS PUT OWENS IN A CHEERFUL MOOD. “I KNOW THIS SENSE OF FULFILMENT WHICH I AM ENJOYING AT THE MOMENT WON’T LAST FOREVER, BUT FOR THE TIME BEING IT FEELS GREAT,” HE MUSES, ALSO AWARE OF THE FACT THAT HIS WORK, AND LIFE, GO ON IN PHASES. “I HAVE A DEEP FASCINATION FOR MARLENE DIETRICH, WHOSE EXISTENCE CAN BE ROUGHLY DIVIDED INTO THREE STAGES. SHE WAS A PROVOCATRICE IN THE BEGINNING, THEN DURING THE WAR SHE MADE A SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY. FINALLY, AT A LATER MOMENT, SHE FASHIONED HERSELF AS A HIGHLY STYLIZED CABARET STAR, HER FIGURE FULL OF DIGNITY. I’D LIKE TO FOLLOW IN HER FOOTSTEPS. FOR SURE, I HAVE HAD MY FAIR SHARE OF PROVOCATION. AS FOR THE SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DO IT THROUGH FASHION, BUT I TRIED THAT TOO WITH THE MESSAGE OF MY PRESENTATIONS. DIGNIFIED CABARET MIGHT BE MY NEXT INCARNATION; I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE WAY.”

TEMPLE OF LOVE—A RATHER HIPPIE TITLE FOR SUCH A BRUTALIST AND DECADENT UNDERTAKING—TRACES THE RICK OWENS TRAJECTORY STARTING FROM THE PIONEERING LA DAYS IN THE EARLY 1990S, WHEN HE FIRST CAME TO PROMINENCE WITH A DÉLABRÉ TAKE ON GLAMOUR HE KEENLY LABELLED GLUNGE (AS IN: GLAMOUR + GRUNGE), TO THE PRESENT. LOOKING AT THE CREATIONS ON DISPLAY IN THE RATHER SOLEMN SPACES OF GALLIERA, ONE IS STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT MANY THEMES—TRAINS, ELONGATION, 30S ECHOES—WERE PRESENT RIGHT FROM THE START. HOWEVER, IT IS ALSO EVIDENT HOW MUCH EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. INITIALLY AVERSE TO SHOWING, THEN INCREASINGLY ENJOYING THE THEATRICALITY OF STAGE PRODUCTIONS, OF LATE OWENS HAS BROUGHT HIS VERNACULAR TO EXPRESSIONISTIC PEAKS OF A KLAUS NOMI VARIETY. REPRISING THE DIETRICH COMPARISON, THE SIMILARITY SEEMS TO WORK BUT IN REVERSE, AT LEAST IN REGARD TO THE CLOTHING: THE BEGINNINGS WERE MUCH MORE STYLIZED THAN THE PRESENT, SUCCESS HAVING REPLACED ROMANTIC SUBTLETY WITH IN-YOUR-FACE GORE, AND IT’S ALL THE BETTER FOR IT.

EITHER WAY, RICK OWENS HAS BUILT HIS OWN WORLD OUT OF DISTORTION AND EXAGGERATION, CHALLENGING NOTIONS OF GOOD TASTE, MORALITY AND BEAUTY ALONG THE WAY. IN DOING SO, HE HAS ATTRACTED A LOYAL FOLLOWING OF OUTCASTS AND WEIRDOS. “MY PERSONAL WAKE-UP CALL, AS A TEEN, WAS SEEING THE COVER OF BOWIE’S DIAMOND DOGS: FOR THE FIRST TIME, I SENSED THERE WAS A WORLD I COULD BELONG TO. I’D LOVE IT TO BE THE SAME FOR WHAT I DO. I’D LOVE A 15-YEAR-OLD SISSY SOMEWHERE TO FEEL INCLUDED WHEN SEEING IT, SENSING THE WARMTH OF THE EMBRACE OF SOMETHING DIFFERENT.” THIS FEELING OF INCLUSION IS EXACTLY WHAT OWENS WANTED TO CONVEY ENTITLING THE EXHIBITION TEMPLE OF LOVE, WHICH IS NOT THE FIRST THING ONE WOULD ASSOCIATE WITH HIS OEUVRE. FOR SURE, HE HAS THE CAPACITY TO GATHER DEVOTEES, LIKE A PREACHER IN A TEMPLE, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NOTHING PREACHING OR IMPOSING ABOUT HIS WAYS AND HIS CREATIONS. THEY CALL IN, FOR SURE, BUT JUST LIKE-MINDED SPIRITS. “WHAT I WOULD LOVE THE PUBLIC TO RECOGNISE IS THAT THE WORLD I PROPOSE IS NOT MEANT TO IMPOSE OR INSIST. IT’S NOT A MANIFESTO; IT’S A PROPOSAL. ALTHOUGH IT WAS BORN OUT OF MY REACTION TO THE RULES IMPOSED ON ME, I WANT IT TO BE AN ALTERNATIVE, NOT THE ONLY OPTION. IT’S AN IDEAL WORLD FOR SURE.”

AS PARADOXICAL AS IT MIGHT SOUND, THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE RICK OWENS WORLD LIES IN THE UNFILTERED AUTHENTICITY OF SOMETHING THAT IS SO DEEPLY PERSONAL, SO UTTERLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, IT COMES ACROSS AS CRAZILY EGOTISTICAL. ONE CAN DEFINITELY SENSE THAT BEHIND THE SURFACE OF A STYLE THAT IS SO BRUTALLY CAMP AND GROTESQUE, INHERENTLY CLASSIC WHILE BEING DELIBERATELY CONFRONTATIONAL, SIT DEEPLY INDIVIDUAL URGES, A REACTION TO REALITY AS IT IS, AND THE FIRM WILL TO BUILD AN ALTERNATIVE. “I AM A CARICATURE OF MY OWN MAKING THAT I MANIPULATE A LOT,” HE SAYS, WITH A KNOWING SMILE. THERE ARE DESIGNERS WHO ENJOY ENVISIONING THINGS LIKE THEY WERE OUTWARD PROJECTIONS, SOMETHING FANTASTIC THAT IS, HOWEVER, EXTERNAL TO THEM AND AS SUCH HAS AN AUTONOMOUS LIFE. RICK OWENS BELONGS TO THE OPPOSITE, NO LESS ENTHRALLING BREED: CREATORS WHO FULLY EMBODY THEIR OWN WORLDS. RICK IS AT THE CENTRE OF HIS OWN FANTASY; HE LIVES, DRESSES AND INHABITS IT IN THE FIRST PERSON, MAKING THE THEATRE VISCERALLY REAL. SO MUCH SO, IN FACT, THAT EVEN WORKING WITH A CURATOR IS SOMETHING THAT IS DIFFICULT FOR HIM. AT GALLIERA, HE COLLABORATED WITH THE MUSEUM TEAM ON THE PROVISO THAT HE HAD CARTE BLANCHE.

THE REJECTION OF NARROW-MINDEDNESS AND THE REFUSAL OF JUDGING MORALISM ARE CENTRAL ELEMENTS IN THE MAKING OF OWENS’ WORLD. HIS CONFRONTATIONAL HARMONY, IN FACT, HIDES A LOT OF CONFLICT, THE MAIN AND MOST FORMATIVE OF WHICH OWENS HAS ENDURED HIS ENTIRE LIFE WITH HIS STRICT, CULTURE-LOVING LATE FATHER, WHOSE PRESENCE IMPOSES ITSELF TO THIS DAY, POPPING INTO THE CONVERSATION QUITE A LOT. “I AM CONSTANTLY GETTING BACK TO HIM LIKE HE WAS STILL ALIVE,” HE SAYS. “I JUST CAN’T ESCAPE IT.” AS IT OFTEN HAPPENS, THE PEOPLE WE RUN AWAY FROM OR STRONGLY OPPOSE END UP BEING THOSE WHO SHAPE OUR PERSONAS AND TO WHOM WE EVEN BECOME CLOSER IN NATURE. RICK OWENS TAKES AFTER HIS FATHER IN MANY WAYS, IN TERMS OF TASTE AND CULTURE. HE INHERITED HIS SEVERITY, MOST OF ALL, WHICH IS JUST ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL CONTRADICTION. DESPITE BEING SO SLEAZY AND SO WEIRD, IN FACT, THE OWENS WORLD IS BASED ON STRUCTURE AND PRECISION, AND AN ODD BREED OF TOTALITARIANISM. DELVING INTO IT REQUIRES TOTAL DEDICATION, AND MOST OF THE TIME A TOTAL LOOK. THERE IS NOTHING SUBTLE ABOUT IT—IT WAS PERHAPS MORE SO IN THE LA YEARS—AND WEARING A PIECE MAKES YOU, DE FACTO, AN OWENISTA, WHICH IS A SIGN OF AUTHORSHIP AS MUCH AS IT IS A COMMANDING STANCE. AND YET, BEHIND SUCH HARSH, THEATRICAL SEVERITY LIES A SENSE OF HUMOUR AND A RELATIVISM THAT COMES FROM LIFE EXPERIENCED ON THE BATTLEFIELD WITH WEIRDOS AND FREAKS, AND FROM THE ADAPTABILITY SUCH LIFE AT THE MARGINS ENTAILS, WHICH MAKES THINGS NUANCED AND, AGAIN, ABSOLUTELY PERSONAL. TODAY OWENS MIGHT LIVE AS A HARD-WORKING RECLUSE, BUT HE HAS GATHERED A LOT IN HIS PAST LIVES. “HAVING A SENSE OF HUMOUR, LAUGHING ABOUT IT ALL IS SO CHIC,” HE UTTERS, ALWAYS READY TO MOCK HIMSELF AND THE BEAUTIFUL MONSTERS AROUND HIM.

THE GALLIERA EXHIBITION, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IS NOT HOWEVER IMMEDIATELY HUMOROUS. ALTHOUGH THE CONTRAST OF THE VISION AND THE SETTING/INSTITUTION COULD PERHAPS BE DESCRIBED AS SUCH, WITH THE JUXTAPOSITION OF J.K. HUYSMANS’ À REBOURS, A MOST FORMATIVE BOOK FOR OWENS, WITH BUTT MUSCLE AND FETISH PARAPHERNALIA. INSTEAD, THE ENDEAVOUR LOOKS QUITE SOLEMN OVERALL, AND YET IS RIDDLED WITH AN UNDERLYING SENSE OF PROVOCATION, WHICH IS PROBABLY WHERE THE HUMOUR HIDES. THE PUBLIC IS GETTING THE MESSAGE, AND THE EXHIBITION IS A SUCCESS. “THIS IS REALLY THE DEFINITIVE RECOGNITION, A WAY TO SHOW EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE SO FAR,” HE CONCLUDES. “WHAT I’D LIKE TO GET ACROSS IS THAT MY VISION IS DRENCHED WITH IDEALISM THAT DOESN’T JUDGE OR CONDEMN, BECAUSE CORRUPTION IS INEVITABLE.” THEN, WITH A FURTHER AND OH-SO-CHARMING CONTRADICTION, HE ADDS, “I AM AVERSE TO JUDGEMENT, BUT I SEE THAT I JUDGE ALL THE TIME, AND OFTEN I DO FEEL ASHAMED ABOUT IT. JUDGMENT IS PROBABLY PART OF HUMAN NATURE, I GUESS, AND WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT TOO.” ACCEPTANCE: THAT’S A GOOD WORD TO SUM IT ALL UP.