Challenging the definition of conservative beauty and
good taste in a good-humoured way is Owens’s MO — he
has placed naked wax figures of his body in his stores and
describes his shoes as “Frankensteined”. His personal
appearance is a work of art: his curly hair, chemically
altered to be black, straight and long, is almost as famous
as his sinewy body, perfected after a fastidious, decades-
long approach to exercise and diet. He mostly dresses in
head-to-toe black and claims to wear his signature
monster platforms every day. (I can attest to this, having
once seen him board the Eurostar, with suitcase, wearing
them.) Now fully established as a cult fashion designer,
Owens is happy to uphold a sense of eccentricity: “I’m a
60-year-old designer in Paris — I have to commit. I have to
be who I am talking about. I have to be glam as f ***.” He
still occasionally goes clubbing but only on his terms. “I
like a dirty warehouse party in New York or Paris. Except
I’ve been sober for 30 years, so now I do it in a controlled
way — I have dinner and I take a disco nap. Then I wake up
at 2am and have an espresso. I get a car and someone calls
ahead to let them know I’m coming so I don’t have to
stand in line. I’m such a prima donna,” he says, laughing.
His label is an independently owned commercial
powerhouse. His crinkled leather jackets and trainers have
banked him millions. “I was never satisfied with the
trainers I could find — I thought they were the most
banal, suburban thing. I was influenced by Run-DMC and
I made something as exaggerated as possible. I just did
it for me, but after I stuck them in a couple of collections,
that’s what became my thing. That’s what bought
my house.” He also runs a highly successful bespoke
furniture line with Lamy. And thanks to the mainstream
revival of all things angst — according to the shopping
platform Lyst, searches for collections by Owens, which
feature black leather and punk details such as rips and
zips, grew by 200 per cent last year — it’s a good time to
be a goth. A new collection for Converse marks the third
time they have collaborated. “Converse Chuck Taylors are
so iconic — iconic is such a dumb, predictable word, but
it’s a cartoon of a general post-adolescent rebellion. It just
is,” Owens says. “To this day there are 70-year-old artists
walking around in their Chuck Taylors. My heroes at that
time were the Ramones who wore them — they were
part of the CBGB underground rock-garage mood.” His
take on the wardrobe classic? Souped-up soles, an elon-
gated tongue and turbo toecaps.
Now, for the provocateur: when discussing his collabo-
ration with Converse, he notes the outrage at his use of a
pentagram in place of Converse’s signature stars. “When
we used it on the Converse Instagram, people freaked out.
They said they’d never buy another pair of Converse again
as Converse were endorsing Satanism. I was delighted of
course,” he pauses, chuckling. “I don’t believe in Satan. It’s
a symbol of rebellion for sure because it provokes people
who are very uptight, but it’s meant as a playful gesture.”
So, still no signs of playing by the rules. But behind his
severe appearance is a surprisingly sensitive soul. “I do
consider myself a rebellious designer. There is a conserva-
tive moral majority — like the people on Instagram —
which horrifies me. That was my biggest disappointment
with the internet. I’m looking at the comments on the
most benign, wholesome stories on The New York Times
and to see the conversation degenerate into bickering is
predictable. It’s inescapable. It’s horrifying that everyone
is so quick to point out other people’s flaws.”
Could it inhibit the next generation of creatives,
who may be too scared to be themselves?
“Maybe. Or it’ll enrage people like me to go
even further.” ■The Rick Owens x Converse collaboration is
available now; rickowens.eu, converse.com‘I do consider myself a rebellious
designer. There is a conservative
moral majority that horrifies me’
Drkstar Chuck 70
high-tops, £160, Rick
Owens x ConverseIf in doubt, make it black The Rick Owens look as
seen on the catwalk and the fashion crowdThe Sunday Times Style • 29