Paris fashion museum illuminates Rick Owens’ Universum

The Palais Galliera in Paris will shed light on the dark universe of the American designer Rick Owens from Saturday. It is the first retrospective of the unique and avant-garde designer in France, which is a symbol of underground fashion.

For the first time, the Paris fashion museum presents an exhibition with daylight, which is usually not suitable for sensitive clothing, reveals curator Alexandre Samson, responsible for the museum’s contemporary collections.

“We return to the Palais Galliera with its original definition: openly to the outside,” the expert told the press on Wednesday.

‘Temple of Love’ offers all keys to understanding the origins of Owens’ style. It is an idol of the post-punk generation since he founded his own brand in 1992. Young fashion shows during the Paris fashion week are a meeting point for a loyal fan base. His followers: Inside, in Unisex and Ultra-Enger clothing, with exaggerated shoulder pads, platforms and the prevailing colors black and gray.

With around a hundred clothing, art objects and videos, Owens conquers the Palais. This also includes a hall with its daring designs, the access of which is not recommended for minors. This is a way of remembering the difficult beginnings in the Californian small town of Porterville.

Unusual hobbies for a Californian

Owens, born in 1961, was an outsider as a teenager. He “discovered drugs and alcohol before his mother persuaded him to go to Los Angeles to visit painting courses,” explains the curator. His mother had also brought him closer to sewing and cutting, and Owens quickly liked to design clothes. His interests had little to do with the golden California: with enthusiasm he read the French decadent poets, heard punk music and admired the androgynous look of David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

He discovered the nightlife and his homosexuality, but also the woman who was to be his wife: the French woman Michèle Lamy, who lives in Los Angeles. She encouraged him to continue in the fashion industry after Owens started creating patterns for a company that falsified designer clothing. “It was really a learning through copying,” explains Samson.

Walls clad with felt

The first hall is devoted to these beginnings in Los Angeles. The walls are completely covered with dark brown felt, one of his favorite materials.

His father had brought him closer to Wagner’s music and science fiction novels. Owens later used these inspirations for his monumental fashion shows in Paris, in which he sometimes used fireworks in scenes such as the large courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

The second hall, which is illuminated by the large windows of the Palais Galliera, offers a view of his Parisian period from 2003 when it settled in the French capital. Paradoxically, his color palette only expanded when he moved away from his homeland of California. He played with blood red and fluorescent tones. His holey mohair sweaters and a magnificent dress from the skin of the Amazon-Fischer Pirarucu should be emphasized.

Some of his designs are only for the bravest, such as in 2015, when he sent women over the catwalk in pairs, one hung on the other with straps.

The retrospective closes with the exact replica of the bedroom that Owens and his wife had in Los Angeles, surrounded by books.

On the facade of the museum, Owens has covered three large statues with sequins. In the publicly accessible gardens, he has set up several concrete work that illustrates his preference for brutalist architecture.

The exhibition ‘Temple of Love’ is open until January 4 and coincides with the designer’s fashion show during this men’s fashion week.