Initial reaction:
Rick Owens's SS15 show presented a collection that thrived on a sense of duality, playing on the balance between the primitive and the futuristic. Models – clad in silver space boots and some covered entirely in body paint – were almost other-worldly, yet dressed in tapestries that recalled prehistoric cave paintings.
In the details:
Hairstylist and long-time Owens collaborator Luigi Murenu parted hair haphazardly, in a way that suggested David Lynch’s Elephant Man. Styling was intentionally disorderly, with garments almost falling off the body and jackets deconstructed and flung around the waist like harnesses. Speaking backstage, Owens said that the collaboration with a step team for his SS14 womenswear show opened his eyes to what he called "the euphoria of the unity of a team," which influenced his decision to cast his own studio team and staff for AW14. This season, he "narrowed the focus even further to an individual person in our team called Benoit. All of the embroideries are based on drawings he had done for me and Michèle [Lamy – his wife and business partner], they are just kind of notes to me and Michèle around the house," Owens said.
Peep show:
"I was thinking about the ballet Afternoon of a Faun, choreographed by Nijinsky. It basically all culminates with this faun masturbating on a nymph’s scarf, so everybody in the audience, with all their jewels, are just waiting for this guy to hump the scarf. I love that!" – Rick Owens.
Last season, Owens created an anti-authoritarian army clad in leather and zips, hinting darkly at S&M. See it below:
 backstage at Rick Owens SS15)
