Each season, Rick Owens manages to create a buzz of excitement around his collections; his almost cult-like following ensuring a constant flurry of intrigue and interest. And his A/W15 show did offer something exciting – but in a quiet way, through a nuanced development of his famously minimal aesthetic to incorporate a sparkle and softness not ordinarily associated with the dark prince of fashion.
Back in AnOther Magazine S/S14, Owens told Suzannah Frankel that he had found something eerie about his then-recent trip to Dubai. "It's like Star Wars," he explained, "ancient and futuristic at the same time. And then everything has gold slapped on it. For us, what could be weirder?" And it was this same weird dichotomy that marked the show; models wore draped Grecian robes in the hues we have come to expect from Owens (black, faun, warm golden browns), occasionally embellished with a futuristic twinkle. Faces were gold-leafed for a wonderfully C-3PO effect; but the foil was peeling, weathered, disintegrating. Bames' bass-heavy electronica beats soundtracked the show, overtly modern yet attuned to something timelessly human and instinctual, creating a finely-tuned combination of an arcadian past and a dystopian future.
