Rick Owens surprises at Paris Fashion Week with a colossal show

After Louis Vuitton opened Paris Men's Fashion Week with a majestic event, celebrating humanity with models of every skin color possible, it was Rick Owens' turn to impress on Thursday with an exceptional show, electrifying his audience with an inclusive message that was undoubtedly more authentic. The American designer born in Mexico presented his Spring/Summer 2025 collection with a fashion show held on the esplanade of the Palace of Tokyo, in which no less than 200 models participated, women and men of all shapes and sizes from all over the world, all They dressed in white. A memorable act that ended with a final act that lasted more than 10 minutes.

Rick Owens, returning to the Palais de Tokyo after showing at his Parisian headquarters on the place du Palais-Bourbon, made a big statement, giving the fashion world one of those lasting moments that it just loves. It was an impressive procession, part Hollywood period drama and part peace march, with dozens of models and extras descending the stairs of the Tokyo Palace's immense Art Deco courtyard to the solemn rhythm of Tokyo's Seventh Symphony. Beethoven.

The cast was divided into groups of 20 models, each clan wearing their own distinctive outfit, which seemed to emerge from the distant past or come from a galaxy far away in the future. “The idea was to group them, each group with a kind of uniform. Bringing all of these groups together seemed to be an appropriate message, illustrating what would be best for this world of ours, in the current situation,” Owens told FashionNetwork.com after the show.

In the introductory note to the collection, Owens said that “expressing our individuality is fine, but sometimes expressing our unity and our need to depend on each other is also a very good thing. Especially when we are witnessing a dramatic escalation of intolerance in the world right now.”

The various Rick Owens clans marched solemnly, some in long cloaks, others in long sheer hooded robes, others wrapped in long cloaks with raised, pointed shoulders. Some wore masks, others were wrapped in tight or draped clothing. Suddenly, a group of models appeared on the highest terrace of the courtyard, between the huge columns of the building, dressed in a long robe, their shoulders and upper body covered by a mini-cape and a semicircular golden tiara on their heads, like the priests and priestesses of an ancient religion.

The choreography hinted at 'Rick Owens' United Nations'. It was an incredible gathering of very diverse people, with different physiques, sizes, sexes, skin colors and presumably also religion, which produced, on a parade scale, a kind of summit meeting of all these different peoples. An impressive spectacle that caused a wave of emotion in the audience, especially when a woman took the stage perched on top of a raft-like structure carried on the shoulders of 10 muscular men, brandishing a white flag with the image of two hands. intertwined. “The idea for that image occurred to me just a week ago. It suddenly seemed so obvious to me,” Owens told FashionNetwork.com.

Most of the models were fashion academy students, a deliberate choice by Owens in the spirit of inclusivity. “I always thought that it was not at all right that 90% of the models that appear in the shows are thin and only a few are chubby. Furthermore, last season I put on my show at home, with a small audience, excluding many people, such as fashion students. This time I wanted everyone to participate,” Owens said.

Owens certainly has a sense of the spectacular and stated that the show, titled “Hollywood,” was heavily influenced by cinema. “I was mainly inspired by the history of cinema, especially the 1930s with its Art Deco sets, black and white films, the sense of moral redemption and the way sin was portrayed in the films of that era,” He said.

The decor, characters and setting remind us of the big-budget period dramas of the golden age of cinema, as well as more recent science fiction epics such as Star Wars and Dune. And the looks were very Rick Owens, eminently adapted to the genre, from the oversized sports tops with diagonal zippers, to the satin blouses with maxi hoods layered over shorts and leggings, combined with high-heeled plexiglass boots or giant sneakers.

The choice of white as the dominant color was also important. Although in reality it was off-white, stripping this classic and highly symbolic color of its references to purity, brightness and directness using a range of different shades such as ecru, chalk white, light beige and clay. Owens is a fan of all-black looks, but he could never imagine an all-black procession. “It would have been too sinister. This really isn't the time for it. I chose to send a message of hope. I wanted something soft, gentle, full of love. Today we need dignity, elegance and sobriety,” he concluded.