For Fall / Winter '18, Rick Owens presents Sisyphus, a title taken from the classical Greek myth. King Sisyphus was an arrogant king punished eternally by Zues to roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down, over and over again for eternity.
Rick says of the collection:
"It's draining to watch unhealthy cycles repeat themselves, behaviorally and historically, and every once in a while, it's hard to suppress a howl of rage. If we haven't learned better by now, after all this time, does this mean unhealthy cycles and base urges are an integral part of the human condition? And if they are integral, does that mean they have some kind of horrible value?
The collection has a number of design novelties including double knit tunics in mercerized cottoned faced with cashmere, referred to as 'cashboard'. This pliable material is slit and slashed and draped around the body in several looks or layered beneath coats. Coats and shoes are constructed from another novel fabrication, plastic shearling, a material that dramatically leaves loose filaments in an explosive disarray."
Flags, chains, hand-applied paint, and straps intersect with cow hide, denim, cashboard, flannel, felted wool, and nylon duchesse in a masterful collection that aptly feels in suspension. There is an energy to this collection, one of repetition and severity.
As Rick describes the music set to the show:
"A remix of 'Energize' by DJ Speedlap, [is] the kind of 90s terror techno I listen to every day as a safety valve to release the impatience and frustration that are the personal cycles I can't seem to control, no matter how much I should have learned better to by now. If, after all my efforts, I haven't found a way to erase them, does that mean they serve some kind of purpose?"
Images courtesy of Rick Owens.
Make-up: Mac Cosmetics and Sammy Mourabit
Hair: Duffy (Streeters)
Production: La Mode en Images
Music: 'Energize' by DJ Speedlap (remixed by Jeff Judd)
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