'I am the walrus', said Lennon and McCartney. For S/S 17, Rick Owens' 'Walrus' collection may have seemed nearly as nonsensical as an LSD induced Beatles lyric. Equal part protest, equal part otherworldly, Owens' 'sense' arrived in the shape of an ecologically inspired collection that pushed the boundaries of female - and human - design to the limits. In terms of the show title, Owens liked 'the idea of using the name of an alien looking creature so far removed from our everyday world'.
This season, he was also talking about 'ecological balancing' and the idea of creating design 'within the context of eternity'. In an effort to recognise that there are far greater things at play in this world than the land of you or I, he wanted our existence to feel humbled by enormity. Sone of the most humongous silhouettes were a metaphor for this - whilst spontaneous 'haphazard' draping was about signalling our fragility in the world.
Saffron yellow, dusty purple, grey, rust and cream saw Rick Owens's relative adventure into colour continue to blossom.
There was also some top notch craft within the collection. The legendary plumassier Maison Lemairé created some 'fog coats' using a never before seen technique, where ostrich feathers were hand tied and mounted by their thousands onto silk gazar. An 18th century technique was also used, where the weft of horse hair was woven into large brittle volumes.
