Rick Owens has admired Marlene Dietrich since forever, fascinated by the arc of her career, from screen star and sexual provocateur to humanitarian service worker during World War II and her earlier cabaret days.
“She’s such a mix of artifice and rigor,” he said backstage before his fall 2026, which featured grandiose woolly mammoth versions of the German star’s famous swan’s down coat by costume designer Jean Louis. Owens lauded a stage act that “used so few elements that were controlled in such a careful way that they created a big impact, at least for somebody like me.”
Of course, Owens could be talking about himself, given his penchant for using fog, which on Thursday night could not obscure the raw beauty of his strapless Kevlar gowns, the spunk of his leather gym shorts with paper-bag waists, and the military precision of his leather coats with harness-like clasps, reprised from his men’s show.
Also from his men’s collection, there were Dracu-collar blousons and funnel-neck capelets in thick felt that carried the torch for his unique brand of brutalist, dystopian chic.
But this was an Owens show with fewer hard edges, soft fabrics like velvet, cashmere and mélange wool whorled and draped, and a low-key melancholy, cinematic mood heightened by the slightly punk, slightly “Blade Runner” hair and makeup by Berlin-based creative Bernardo Martins, aka Figa.Link.
Before the show, Owens was fretting, a little, that the outlandish pink and blue eyelashes and streaks of neon color might read “club kid,” whereas he was attracted to the “gutter rat” quality of Martins’ work.
“Throughout history, when you’re living on the edge of disaster, throughout history, people have reacted with extravagance and maybe a little bit of depravity,” he said. “There is this gritty frivolity to it that I really love.”
Sure, his long-haired goat coats were bombastic, but there were also a number of approachable, even practical items.
“I always promised myself that I was always going to live what I did. And so again we have denim cut-offs, some tank tops underneath, and the coat with the boots, because that’s what I wear,” he said. “Of course, I manipulate them and I exaggerate them. I take the most mundane things and try and tweak them.”
Also making a return appearance were long leather or woolen vests, over which you can wear a cropped jacket long vest piece with the cropped jacket that goes over it, so that you can wear a cropped jacket when you want.
“It’s like having a two piece coat. I think that’s the most genius thing,” he said. “I haven’t checked the sales, so I don’t know if there’s proof that it’s as brilliant as I think is, but I’m still pushing that.”