Initial reaction:

What’s the most shocking thing Rick Owens could do? “Use tulle!” he exclaimed backstage after his SS15 womenswear show, which featured swathes of the fabric flaring at models’ hips and hanging in raw-edged layers, romantic associations given over to a vision of the primal and untouched.

The same story:

Back in June, Owens put on a menswear show inspired by Afternoon of a Faun, the 1912 ballet choreographed by Nijinsky, and its elements of eroticism (“It basically all culminates with this faun masturbating on a nymph’s scarf...I love that!”). Like a ballet performance, today’s show – with its distinct gangs of models – felt as if it was divided into acts. Backstage, Owens spoke of wanting both of the collections “to have the same story,” and with models’ bodies and hair painted once more in otherworldly shades of white and purple, it was clear that he hit the mark. 

Volume and transparency:

Like last season’s hint towards the primitive – manifested in cave-drawing-like scrawls on garments, Owens’ SS15 womenswear collection also had a sense of the raw and untouched. Acid washed canvas panels down the front of dresses looked as if they had been scorched by the sun, whilst softer, sheer fabrics like net and mesh were layered on top of one another in a way that looked almost (perfectly) haphazard. The result was a collection of seemingly weightless volume which played with transparency and bordered on the ethereal – the pale blue look sported by cult model Erika Wall a perfect example of this.