Shop of the Week: Rick Owens

"Raw and refined." "Grunge plus glamour." "Haunted and haute." These are words that have been used to describe the clothing designs of Rick Owens, but they are equally befitting of his new downtown store. Opened recently on a barren stretch of Hudson Street between TriBeCa and the West Village, Owens’s 3,000-square-foot shop is his first in the U.S. Concrete floors and 19-foot walls of bare white give the expansive space a minimalist feel. It’s a cross between a monastery and gallery, with marble slab benches, cascading window curtains and hand-carved wooden chairs from Owens’s furniture line. Mirrors that tower from floor to ceiling reflect the creative centerpiece of the store: a swirling fog wall behind the registers with a trancing effect.

And then, of course, there is the clothing – art in its own right. Since emerging as a popular LA indie designer in the early ‘90s, Owens has seldom strayed from his textured, edgy designs. The racks of women’s and menswear collections showcase all his signature styles – asymmetrical cuts, unfinished hems, sculptured folds, and luxe materials like soft leathers, cashmere and rare furs.

Sleeveless tunic dresses, long knit cardigans, and other understated pieces balance the more audacious designs like gathered front skirts, hooded funnel neck jackets and full length Palias Royal saber fur coats (PETA beware). Owens uses his typically neutral palette of browns, blacks, beiges and greys, leaving the drama to the clothes’ iconoclastic structuring and the store’s grandeur instead.

 

Rick Owens
250 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013

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July 2008
Paper Magazine