“LAST SEASON’S COLLECTION WAS NAMED ‘PORTERVILLE’ AFTER THE SMALL JUDGEMENTAL TOWN I HAD TO ESCAPE FROM. THIS SEASON’S COLLECTION IS NAMED ‘HOLLYWOOD’ AFTER THE BOULEVARD OF VICE I GLEEFULLY RAN TO… TO FIND MY PEOPLE… WEIRDOS AND FREAKS… LIVING IN A WORLD LOU REED DESCRIBED IN ‘WALK ON THE WILD SIDE’… I WAS LOOKING FOR THE FLAMING CREATURES I HAD SEEN FILMED BY JACK SMITH AND KENNETH ANGER… AND I ALWAYS REFERENCE THE LOST HOLLYWOOD OF PRE-CODE BLACK AND WHITE BIBLICAL EPICS, MIXING ART DECO, LURID SIN AND REDEEMING MORALITY. MY PERSONAL PETER BERLINS WEAR THRASHED GYM SHORTS AND CHIFFON CAPES WITH JUMBO GEOBASKETS THE SIZE OF SPACE BOOTS.”

 

At first glance at Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2025 collection, it could look like a cult, an army of love in white satin, eradicated of any dark hues. Even under gauze-like knitted masks, gold semi-circle-shaped headdresses, and nun-like biker hoods, I have never seen such a wide array of individuals walk a show before. It was a powerful reminder that at our core, each one of us is unique and possesses an unrepeatable beauty. We can’t escape who we are, we must embrace it. In the show notes, Rick had another point that made me reflect on my first impressions. “EXPRESSING OUR INDIVIDUALITY IS GREAT BUT SOMETIMES EXPRESSING OUR UNITY AND RELIANCE ON EACH OTHER IS A GOOD THING TO REMEMBER TOO… ESPECIALLY IN THE FACE OF THE PEAK INTOLERANCE WE ARE EXPERIENCING IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW…”

As fashion school students, faculty, and friends from all genders walked the grand staircase with clouds of smoke, emotions in the open air at the Palais de Tokyo were deepened with Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A Major mixed by Jeff Judd, a piece known for the sense of sorrow was being walked with an overwhelming amount of shared love. A gymnast bouquet composed of the women carrying women in his Cyclops show 9 years ago, a reminder of how we must carry and trust each other to go forward.

Owens emphasized the ethical choices made in the creation of this new collection: denim is handled in an Italian wash house that consumes less water, materials are vegetable-tanned, and organic silk is GOTS certified. All admirable attempts to reduce the collection’s environmental imprint.

Check out the collection below: