Reviewing the Runway - Rick Owens Fall/Winter 2012-13 Mountain Men

Label: Rick Owens

Designer: Rick Owens

Fashion Week: Paris, France

Runway Show: Thursday, January 19

Not having heard of Rick Owens prior to this year, I was not sure what to expect when viewing his runway collection. However, upon seeing the first look to come marching down the catwalk, I knew I was going to see some unique clothing, for better (left, the first look of the show) or for worse (right) (All pictures were screencapped from www.gq.com.).

The look to the left was a high-waist drop crotch pants paired with a poplin shirt with enclosed buttons and a scarf, bib-like fold of the fabric. High-waist trousers are recently making a comeback, but the drop-crotch look still has yet to take footing. The architectural nature of the shirt is something unique, at least in American menswear. This was a look with an unexpected touch.

However, the look to the right, was just as unexpected in a, "Is that even wearable way?" The look above is, as www.gq.com notes, an "oversized, NASA-esque puffer coat" paired with a skirt with a sheen to it. With the unique proportions of the puffer jacket (proportions that practically swallow the model), paired with a man-skirt (an article of clothing that I never thought existed except as part of a costume or stage performance), that was without a doubt, an eyebrow-raising moment that definitely set the tone for my first contact with the clothes of Mr. Owens.

As the editors at the online retailer Mr. Porter notes, Rick Owens is a "top designer known for his rebellious look." True to the quote, Mr. Owens followed suit by delivering a collection that was a mix of tailored pieces with drapy skirts and dresses in his seemingly signature colors of black, white, and gray. An example of this rebellious look is the vest below.

Instead of being a traditional flat front tailored vest, it is a vest that had ruching, not typically seen in street wear. Even the high-waist pants with a drop-crotch are rebellious in-and-of itself. Only men that emanate a rough and tough, "I don't give a damn!" swagger can successfully wear those pants.

Although some of his pieces are unique, the portion of the show that had me salivating were the leather jackets! This was the first jacket that appeared:

Staying true to form, this jacket is as rebellious as the rest of his aesthetic: the cropped proportions, the asymmetric zipper, the scarf-like detail around the neck! It is unique and most definitely worth the hefty price one could expect to pay.

Here are other standout racer/leather jackets:

For those jackets, it was all about the details. The contrast-colored piping on the jackets added visual dimension, sleekness, and interest. What the two middle jackets lack in piping, they make up for with personality and uniqueness by having what I will call a built-in scarf. This is a detail rarely seen, if at all, in most leather jackets that are currently in retail!

As much as I laud Mr. Owens for being creative, unique, and rebellious, speaking as a shopper, there are several pieces that would make customers only shop for the jackets. When this look came down the runway, my gut reaction was, "undertaker."

The solid black with a faint glimmer of white was too depressing. The skirt did not help as well. Not many men would buy a skirt at a high-end price, unless they were a performer of some sort, or needed a costume. Expecting men to wear a skirt or dress is currently unrealistic, until gender-specific clothing are redefined.

If the objective of a runway presentation is to sell clothes, with these looks, I'm not sold.

One obvious fault with the picture on the left is the skirt. As for the middle and right looks, I am not as sold as a customer when even the model is lost through the coats. A fault that all three looks share, which lost me as a shopper, is the fact that the models walked like penguins when going down the catwalk. It is a pity when even the models themselves cannot walk in the clothes!

In the end, as much as I love a rebellious and edgy aesthetic, I am also grounded in reality. If I had all the money in the world and I could splurge, I would buy several of the shirts and vests with the ruching from Mr. Owens' collection. However, until that happens, I will stick with the worthwhile investments, the leather and racer jackets.