RICK OWENS SS16 MENS - CYCLOPS

A military silhouette is a classic reference for men’s clothes. the effect of military uniforms has been analyzed and developed over generations to summarize what a man wants to look like efficient, well proportioned, rational, dignified and heroic. But the particular u.s. m1965 field jacket collar and placket that I have based this collection on suggests a host of other references, notably rebellion, counterculture and anti-war protest a collar from the past that suggests heroism and questions it at the same time. I’ve fetishized this jacket metallizing it, distorting it, shredding it, flaring it, painting it black... worn over shorts and sandals, it’s my version of an eternal hippie spirit looking for inner purity, opposing conflict, and contributing to the perpetuation of cosmic love. And all of this best expressed in black leather. Leather is also transparent here in a process that preserves the leather but stops short of dyeing it. It’s then waxed in a procedure similar to drum skins. This process is also applied to snakeskin and used in t-shirts and the simplest of slim zippered windbreakers. And finally, I propose a series of turbo-draped and collaged tops in rough toile and painted canvas making it pretty obvious that I’ve been a fan of John Chamberlain’s sculptures and Steven Parrino’s paintings all my life artistic heroes who emerged and experimented in the wake of the cultural revolution of the american 1960s. This Rick Owens spring summer 2016 men's collecti