Who is Rick Owens?

Rick Owens an American designer who owns a luxury brand he named after himself, Rick Owens, ever since he launched his brand in 1994, he pursues making Avant Garde Fashion accessible. His parents named him Richard Saturnino Owens when he was born on November 18, 1961 and is currently 60 years old. He’s married to Michele Lamy and together their unique take on life and his collections have gained him something of a cult following for his fashion designs. In his interviews you’ll find a cool, collected, comfortable, personable person who really enjoys being creative and exploring art through furniture, fashion and architecture. 

Every Experience Built His Career

His father raised him extremely conservatively, with no access to TV until he was 16. This conservative upbringing might have contributed to Rick finding it hard to relate to his catholic classmates in school. Rick’s father made him read philosophical literature and listen to classical music. According to a 2008 interview with Rick’s father, he wanted to expose his son to things he wouldn’t grow out of. 

Rick Owens has grown to be completely comfortable in his own skin, drastically different than his childhood, he is openly bisexual, married to the iconic Michele Lamy and has a nonconformist lifestyle, even having a Sarcophagus (box-like funeral receptable) as an art piece in his house. This is a drastic juxtaposition to his childhood and Owens mentions that his father “was very actively conservative, so obviously I was a karmic reaction to that. We were affectionate in the sentimental way but fundamentally we were mortal enemies.”

His mother on the other hand was a seamstress to make ends meet, and this was one of the first few ways he was exposed to the art of design at an early age. “Mom on the other hand is just the sweetest Mexican lady.” 

High School, University and College

Owens began exploring an alternative lifestyle in high school, skipping class, smoking, and rock music represented him as a stereotypical rebellious teenager. However it was also during this time that he recalls taking a deeper interest in art and after graduating high school in 1979, he studied Fine Arts at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. 

Owens recalls that he was captivated by the conceptual artist Joseph Beuys. “He was my first big idol, because it was all about insulation and protection, and it was very military.” Even now, looking at Owens design concepts we can see similarities in their approach to art, often using dark color palettes, and structurally sharp edges to their designs be it art installations from Joseph Beuys or the shapes Owens uses in his fashion collections. 

He unfortunately did not finish his Fine Arts degree, but instead dropped out after 2 years to enroll at the Los Angeles trade technical college to study pattern cutting. According to Rick, he “got intimidated by it,” as it was “too intense, like entering the priesthood.”  

After 2 years of studying pattern cutting, he began working in knockoff houses in Los Angeles and whilst this is illegal it gave him the time to master the difficult art of pattern-cutting and recreate the work of the biggest designers in the industry. According to Rick this was invaluable knowledge because it gave him the foundation to intentionally create his signature silhouettes and control how his clothes drape along the body. Even “Picasso did classic figure drawing in the beginning, and then after that, he abstracted.” so says Owens, “you can’t start distorting things unless you kind of know what you’re doing.” 

He did this for 4 years until 1988 when his boyfriend helped him to find a new job for a legitimate clothing line. It was a sportswear company owned by Michele Lamy who is his wife. At this point Michele was already an iconic fashion figure in Los Angeles, she was married to Richard Newton a filmmaker and she had her daughter, Scarlett Rouge who has become an artist today. Eventually they started an affair and realized they were meant for each other so they each left their respective partners and became the power couple they are today. 

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Career Breakthroughs

After working on creating his own label and collection for some time, Rick contacted Maxfield, a legendary luxury fashion boutique based in Los Angeles, wondering if they could host his collection. If they accepted it would’ve been a huge opportunity because they had a long list of celebrity clientele. However Maxfield representatives said they had no time to view his collection. 

Undeterred, Rick pitched his collection to Charles Gallay who owned the most prominent Avant Garde fashion boutique. According to Rick, he didn’t have a single cent and asked Charles Gallay to buy fifty percent of his collection and Charles did, showing he had faith in Rick’s collection, knowing it would sell. 

This was amazing as it allowed Rick to begin making his next collection right away. This also carved his beginnings into Avant Garde fashion, which now he has become known for, “accessible Avant Garde designs.” Unfortunately, not long after Charles Gallay began carrying Rick Owens, they closed. 

Thankfully, this was just a speed bump for Rick because Maxfield took notice of how well his collection was selling at Charles Gallay and asked if they could host his collection at their boutique. Maxfield is where Rick Owens, “moved into the more high-end fabrics and the more tortured designs, draping leathers and cashmeres and fur, and making these incredible t-shirts” – Lisa Love, West Coast Director of Vogue.