MARCH 23, 2023

HARROLDS — RICK OWENS KNOWS WE ALL HAVE ‘A TASTE FOR MOODY EXOTICISM’ — MARCH 23, 2023 — BY GENEVIEVE PHELAN



BEHIND THE GENDER-FLUID, GOTHIC GLAM OF A GLOBAL FASHION ICON

RICK OWENS IS AN ICONOCLAST, INNOVATOR AND INTOXICATING STORYTELLER THROUGH BOTH CLOTHING CONSTRUCTION AND CONVERSATION. BUT WITH ALL OF THAT GREATNESS COMES INEVITABLE POLARISATION. SO WHETHER YOU’RE WELL-VERSED IN OWENS’ UNORTHODOX DESIGNS OR A STRANGER TO HIS REPERTOIRE OF GENDERLESS CREATIONS, HARROLDS IS HERE TO UNEARTH THE MOTIVATIONS AND INNER-WORKINGS OF THE MASTERMIND HIMSELF.

ORIGINALLY FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, OWENS’ GLAMOROUS TAKE ON GOTHICISM IS WHAT EARNED HIM CULT SARTORIAL STATUS, MAKING ABSTRACT FASHION WEARABLE BY THE EVERYMAN. NOW, THE BONA FIDE PARISIAN IS SURROUNDED BY AUSTRALIANS IN HIS OFFICE, SPENDS HIS SPARE TIME SOAKING UP INSPIRATION AT THE LOUVRE, AND HAS TRIUMPHANTLY BROKEN FREE FROM THE SHACKLES OF SUFFOCATING ‘SMALL TOWN CONSERVATISM’.

AS YOU READ ON, YOU’LL NOTE SOMEWHAT CRYPTIC, DEEPLY ASTUTE REFERENCES TO SPECIFIC HISTORIC MOVEMENTS AND BLACK AND WHITE HOLLYWOOD MOVIES. THE LATTER WAS IN FACT THE GUIDING INFLUENCE BEHIND HIS DESIGN CONCEPTS, SUMMONING THE GRIT OF THE GRUNGY END OF HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD WHERE HE STARTED HIS LABEL IN THE EARLY NINETIES AFTER DROPPING OUT OF ART SCHOOL.

IN PERHAPS ONE OF OUR MOST BEWILDERING AND GRIPPING INTERVIEWS YET, WE WARMLY WELCOME THE POWERFUL AND POETIC FASHION FORCE THAT IS RICK OWENS. JARRINGLY INTELLECTUAL AND BREATHLESS IN HIS PROSE, OWENS’ RESPONSES WILL REVEAL THE RATIONALE BEHIND HIS WORKS, OR THEY MIGHT JUST MAKE YOU TILT YOUR HEAD TO ONE SIDE AND RELEASE A DUMBFOUNDED CHUCKLE. EITHER WAY, WE THINK THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF HIM.

RICK, HELLO. CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A RUN-DOWN OF YOUR LAST WEEK IN WORK AND LIFE? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO AND WHERE ARE YOU IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW?

I AM ENJOYING MY QUIET LITTLE CORNER OF PARIS, EATING ICE CREAM AT NEW CAFÉS, DOING A LOT OF GYM, AND GOING TO MY FAVOURITE CHURCH AROUND THE BLOCK FROM MY HOUSE, THE BASILIQUE SAINTE-CLOTILDE. IT HAS BEAUTIFUL GREY-STONE SOARING VAULTED CEILINGS AND I LIKE TREATING IT LIKE IT’S AN EXTENSION OF MY HOUSE.

AS TRITE AS IT SOUNDS, WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS OR RESOLUTIONS FOR 2023?

I PLAN ON BEING MORE FEROCIOUSLY FOCUSED AND ABSOLUTELY RUTHLESS WITH MYSELF, EDITING MY AESTHETIC WITH MANIC PRECISE INTENSITY.

AND BECAUSE WE’RE INCREDIBLY NOSY, WHAT EXACTLY DOES YOUR NOTORIOUSLY ORGANISED MORNING ROUTINE ENTAIL?

WELL, THESE DAYS I’M WATCHING THE WINGS OF THE DOVE WITH CHARLOTTE RAMPLING IN FULL ‘KLIMT GLAMOURBITCH’ MODE AND PAUL POIRET COATS IN VENETIAN GONDOLAS — ALL WITH THE SOUND OFF AND JULIE LONDON SINGING “THE MAN THAT GOT AWAY” AS I SHOWER IN THE MIDDLE OF MY BEDROOM IN A CLOUD OF JAPANESE INCENSE AND LONGIFLORUM LILY FUMES. THEN I GO HAVE SOME BUTTERED TOAST ON THE TERRACE IN THE CHILLY MORNING AIR AND FEED THE CRUMBS TO THE BIRDS UNDER THE TREES BEFORE GOING TO MY CONCRETE OFFICE ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF MY HOUSE TO WORK ON PRE-COLLECTIONS.

HARROLDS IS A PROUD STOCKIST OF RICK OWENS IN AUSTRALIA. WHAT DOES THIS PARTNERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?

SURPRISINGLY, I HAVE THREE AUSTRALIANS IN MY PARIS OFFICE. THERE’S LUKE, A WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HAS BEEN WITH ME FOR 10 YEARS, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF IMAGERY AND HAS HAD TWO BABIES DURING OUR TIME TOGETHER. THEN THERE’S SARAH, WHO HAS BEEN WITH ME FOR SIX YEARS AND DOES RENDERINGS AND HELPS ORGANISE ALL THE COLLECTIONS. AND, OF COURSE, TYRONE, WHO HAS BEEN WITH ME FOR FIVE YEARS AS A MAJOR PART OF OUR DESIGN TEAM AND IS ALWAYS LOOK NUMBER ONE IN THE MEN’S SHOWS. LONG PLANE TRIPS ARE NOT MY FAVOURITE THING, BUT I’M SURE I’LL VISIT YOU AT SOME POINT.

CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THE BEGINNINGS OF YOUR MONOLITHIC EPONYMOUS BRAND? HOW DID YOU GET AN IDEA OFF THE GROUND BACK IN 1994? WHO TOOK A CHANCE ON YOU?

I JUST THOUGHT I WANTED TO EXPRESS MYSELF AS AUTHENTICALLY AS POSSIBLE AND SETTLED INTO BEING AN ECCENTRIC, LIVING IN POETIC SQUALOR PURSUING MY CRAFT. BUT I DID SUSPECT THAT I MIGHT ATTRACT SOMEONE WHO MIGHT LIKE TO HELP ME, AND LOW AND BEHOLD, I DID. THE ITALIAN PARTNERS THAT APPROACHED ME ARE STILL MY PARTNERS TO THIS DAY, AND THEY PROBABLY HAVE MORE TALENT AT PROTECTING AND NURTURING OUR LABEL THAN I DO.

WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ANDROGYNOUS DESIGN? WHO DO YOU INTEND OR ENVISAGE TO WEAR YOUR CLOTHING?

I ALWAYS LOVED THE ANDROGYNY IN THE WORK OF EGON SCHIELE AND GUSTAVE MOREAU AND BOWIE AND JURGEN KLAUKE AND PIERRE MOLINIER. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME AND WILL ALWAYS HAVE A FOLLOWING.

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR PREOCCUPATION WITH A GOTHIC AND LUXE-GRUNGE AESTHETIC FIRST EMERGED? CAN YOU DATE THIS BACK TO A PARTICULAR PERSON, PLACE, INFLUENCE OR TIME IN YOUR LIFE?

I THINK THE IMAGERY IN BOOKS ABOUT BLACK-AND-WHITE SILENT CECILE B. DEMILLE BIBLE MOVIES IN MY DAD’S BASEMENT LIBRARY LED ME TO JUGENDSTIL AND THE VIENNESE SECESSION AND THE FRENCH SYMBOLISTS. THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SUBCULTURE IN THE WORLD WITH A TASTE FOR MOODY EXOTICISM.

HOW HAS YOUR BACKGROUND AND/OR UPBRINGING SHAPED THE DESIGNER (AND INDIVIDUAL) YOU ARE TODAY?

I WAS RAISED IN A STRIDENTLY BIGOTED AND JUDGEMENTAL ENVIRONMENT THAT MADE ME WANT TO PROVIDE A HAVEN FOR SOFTER, SENSITIVE NON-CONFORMISTS. THE WORLD OF FASHION CAN BE JUST AS BRUTAL AS SMALL TOWN CONSERVATISM AND I WANT TO BE THE GUY THAT PROVIDES OTHER OPTIONS.

IF YOU COULD STYLE ANYONE (DEAD OR ALIVE) WHO WOULD IT BE, AND WHY?

MYSELF IN MY TWENTIES. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUN TO HAVE ALL THE RESOURCES AND CRAFT I HAVE NOW TO HAVE REVELLED IN THEM IN MY FLAMBOYANT DAYS.

SINCE RELOCATING TO PARIS, YOU MUST KNOW A LOT OF THE BEST SPOTS TO SHOP, APPRECIATE ART AND INDULGE IN GOOD FOOD. CAN YOU GIVE US A FEW MUST-VISIT SPOTS FOR A FASHION SAVANT’S WEEKEND IN PARIS?

FROM MY HOUSE, I CAN WALK THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE JARDIN DES TUILERIES AND ARRIVE AT THE LOUVRE WHERE I HAVE A PASS THAT ALLOWS ME TO SLIP INTO A SIDE DOOR AND HAVE A QUICK FIX OF THE BEST OF WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER. AND I LOVE TO LUNCH IN THE OUTDOOR COLONNADE OF CAFÉ MARLEY THAT OVERLOOKS THE LOUVRE’S COURTYARD. WALKING BACK, I CAN STOP FOR A COFFEE AT THE DUCK POND AND GO HOME AND TAKE A NAP.

IN YOUR DOWNTIME (IF THERE IS ANY), WHAT CAN WE FIND YOU GENUINELY RELISHING IN?

READING BIOGRAPHIES AT THE SEASIDE KEEPS ME FED AND INSPIRED. THE BIOS OF PICASSO BY JOHN RICHARDSON, THE GARDENING BOOKS OF BEVERLY NICHOLS AND E.F. BENSON MAPP AND LUCIA SERIES ARE MY FAVOURITES.

LASTLY, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANY YOUNG, BUDDING OR EMERGING DESIGNERS HOPING TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN A HEAVILY SATURATED FASHION LANDSCAPE?

CREATE, CREATE, CREATE AND EDIT, EDIT, EDIT AND YOUR VOICE WILL EMERGE FOR BETTER OR WORSE. POST, AND FIND WAYS TO SHOW IT OFF AND YOU WILL FIND YOUR AUDIENCE AND LIVE AND BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT. DON’T WORRY ABOUT BEING BIG, JUST GOOD.