PFW FALL 2017

Rick Owens’s Secret for Surviving the Apocalypse? Turn Your Sweatshirt Into a Hat

by Steph Eckardt

For a few years now, Rick Owens has been rather unfortunately ahead of the game: the Californian designer has spent the last handful of seasons now immersed in thoughts about the end of the world. It’s a theme, of course, that’s suddenly become more relevant than ever in today’s political climate—even on the candy-colored runways of Gucci. As usual for Fall 2017, though, Owens also kept his morbid fascination light-hearted, topping off models with enormous hats à la John Galliano at Maison Margiela, but crafting his own creations out of wires and disembodied sweatshirt shoulders and sleeves. Given his forays into furniture, a more sculptural look on the runway is hardly a surprise for the designer, as are the innovative materials—this is the man, after all, who got into a rare fight with his longtime wife and collaborator, Michèle Lamy, about whether rock-crystal was a material refined another to justify constructing another of their potential designs: a toilet. Get a look at Owens’s latest, lively vision of doomsday up-close from backstage, here.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.

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Landon Nordeman

Backstage before the presentation of Rick Owen’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week. Photo by Landon Nordeman.