RICK OWENS SS18 DIRT MENS BACKSTAGE

I’VE NAMED THIS SPRING/SUMMER MEN’S COLLECTION ‘DIRT’ AS A COUNTERPOINT TO LAST SEASON’S ‘GLITTER’ AND TO EVOKE A REDUCTIVE, ETERNAL AND BLUNT ANSWER TO OUR TEMPORARY CHAOTIC HUMAN CONDITION. MY RECENT ABSORPTION IN LAND ART — ARCHITECTURE UNLEASHED — IS ABOUT THE HUMAN NEED TO TRY TO FIND ORDER IN WILDERNESS... MAYBE AS A FUTILE ATTEMPT TO PUT A MARK ON IT AS A STAB AT IMMORTALITY, OR SIMPLY AS A CHANCE TO CREATE A BEAUTIFUL, PHYSICAL MAN/PLANET UNION. ...AND I ALWAYS THINK OF THE EXPRESSION OF BEAUTY AS THE OPPOSITE OF DEATH. IT COMFORTS ME TO THINK IN BROAD, CRUDE STROKES LIKE THIS... I’VE FOCUSED ON THE SUIT JACKET AS RESPECTFUL UNIFORM, AS A SYMBOL OF CIVILIZATION, AS ELEGANT LUGGAGE, AS PERSONAL ASPIRATIONAL ARCHITECTURE. JACKETS HERE ARE IN A DRY NYLON COTTON THAT HAS THE DULL SHEEN OF SILK DUCHESSE AND THE RUGGEDNESS OF A BACKPACK. SOME BLAZERS ARE CUT LARGE AND ROOMY WITH POCKETS BIG ENOUGH FOR A SANDWICH (ONE OF MY PERSONAL CRITERIA), AND OTHERS ARE CUT TIGHT AND HIGH TO LIFT THE TORSO AND ANY SPIRITUAL ZONE UP AND AT THE READY. TOPS ARE LIKE HAPHAZARDLY DRAPED PLASTIC TARPS WRAPPED AROUND HALF-FINISHED CONSTRUCTIONS... SLICK, SHINY, AND REFLECTIVE BUT CHEAP AND RAW. PANTS ARE HIGH-WAISTED AND FULL IN THE LEG TO DRAG LUXURIOUSLY ON THE GROUND LIKE A BALL GOWN OR HIKED UP TO REVEAL DIRT HIKING BOOTS WITH TRACTOR-TURBO TREAD. CUSTOM DEVELOPED FABRICS INCLUDE: LACQUERED 12OZ DENIM IN INDUSTRIAL BLACK, BLUE, AND GREEN. SUGAR TWILL GERMAN PAPER YARN WOVEN WITH A POLYAMIDE YARN ON A JACQUARD LOOM TO CREATE A DEEPLY TEXTURED, BRITTLE GAZAR TWILL. MATTE CANVAS HIGH TWIST ELASTANE YARN WOVEN ON A NARROW ARTISANAL LOOM WITH MINIMAL FINISHING FOR A DRY, CHALKY HAND. PLASTIC TARP LUREX TAPE WOVEN ON A METAL WARP AND USED IN ITS OFF-LOOM UNFINISHED AND UNSTRETCHED STATE TO CREATE A STIFF, BURNT PLASTIC TEXTURE. SHEER WOOL GAZAR MADE FROM WOOL AND RAW SILK FILAMENT YARN, WASHED AND SUN DRIED. THE PALAIS DE TOKYO, MY FAVORITE BUILDING IN PARIS, FEELS LIKE AN ART DECO WAGNERIAN VALHALLA... I LOVE THE GRAND SYMMETRY OF THE PARVIS WITH THE WINGS OF THE BUILDING STRETCHING AROUND TO EMBRACE THE POOL... I HAVE INSTALLED CONSTRUCTIVIST SCAFFOLDING TO SERVE AS A MONUMENTAL WALKWAY TO TOUR THE FULL HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF IT... IT’S KIND OF A WAY OF CARESSING ITS INNER WALLS AND LICKING EVERY INCH OF A BUILDING THAT’S ONLY PURPOSE IS AS A TEMPLE TO BEAUTY. I WAS THINKING OF VLADIMIR TATLIN’S TOWER SET TO LED ZEPPELIN’S ‘STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN’.... BUT THE SOUNDTRACK I KNEW I REALLY WANTED TO USE WAS EGYPTIAN LOVER’S ‘I NEED A FREAK’, ONE OF MY FAVORITE ANTHEMS FROM 1984 LA.... KURTIS BLOW MEETS KRAFTWERK MEETS CAMP. ‘I NEED A FREAK’ — MY TRANSLATION; IN THESE TIMES OF PETTY DISCORD AND ANXIETY I’M LOOKING FOR TRANSGRESSIVE INSPIRATION AND IMAGINATION... MAKEUP MAC COSMETICS AND SAMMY MOURABIT HAIR DUFFY (STREETERS) PRODUCTION LA MODE EN IMAGES MUSIC I NEED A FREAK BY EGYPTIAN LOVER (REMIXED BY JEFF JUDD)