PFW: sheer shapes at Rick Owens

The American designer’s collection was titled ‘Faun’, named after and inspired by the ballet ‘L’après-midi d’un faune’ (or ‘The Afternoon of a Faun’ based on Mallarmé’s poem) set to music by Claude Debussy, which created scandal in pre-war Paris when Nijinsky and the Ballet Russes performed its stomping, carnal choreography at the city’s Théâtre du Châtelet. 

This was a collection which also went for a kind of simple naturalism from the sleeveless t-shirts to the blocky-yet-soft shapes, and there was an element of workwear in the simple jerkin-style jackets. Almost all the pieces came in traditional tulle fabrics, some adding lattice pleats, with additional touches of distressed and acid-washed fabrics. 

Also riffing on Bauhaus designer and architect Marcel Breuer, Owens added wool felt and leather panels, and stiff hand-waxed poplin and nylon shorts. Models wore platform sandals with a form of built-in shin guards. There were none of the step-team or friends and family casting tricks of previous seasons, but some models were painted an alien-like shade of all-white. Outerwear included cocooning wrap coats tied around the girls’ necks at the end.