Rick Owens AW14

Initial reaction: 

Last season Owens shook up Paris with his team of all-female steppers, and on reflection it was very much about how these outsiders have come to reverberate through fashion culture. Today it was about something far more personal. Owens cast his own extended fashion family – inviting his studio team and his staff – explaining backstage: “it was a new way of us playing together.” 

The look: 

Both primitive and futuristic. Warriors from cave paintings inspired headpieces and embroidered coats were influenced by tapestries from the 1930s but re-formed into experimental shapes. Skin-tight leather boots extended up the thighs and were juxtaposed with bulky thick leather jackets. 

Deconstruction: 

Despite the inherent control and restraint you come to find in an Owens collection season after season, today jersey straps unravelled off the body and garments were taken off to be thrown back on, held together by straps of fabric around the body. 

The cult of Owens: 

Alongside his studio team, Owens also invited models Kristen Owen and Daiane Conterato, and London DJ Yasmina Dexterto be part of the show, explaining that they were part of Rick Owens history. 

Word of mouth: 

“This season was about including my own team. It was a great exercise because it was another way of building a relationship with them. The thing was that they were all together, they were all in their families. I thought it was a kind of exciting thing to do. They felt loved and they felt protected, it was a new way of trusting each other, which I thought was nice. Does that sound pompous?”– Rick Owens