Rick Owens, Temple of Love exhibition

The fashion world’s perennial enfant terrible is having a moment. We’re talking the alluring Rick Owens retrospective that’s currently held at the ornate Palais Galliera in Paris. Born in Porterville, an obscure town in California‘s expansive San Joaquin Valley, designer Rick Owens (1961) has come a long way, creating a global following with otherworldly silhouettes and quirky materials, which, unsurprisingly, spawn from Owens’ many personal cultural interests. Gloriously entitled Rick Owens, Temple of Love, the exhibition is a meticulously curated one, featuring collections from his early beginnings in Los Angeles through to his most recent, while it also extends to both the museum’s Renaissance-style façade and garden.

The designer’s renown quickly emerged since his arrival in the French capital in 2003, choosing a veritable world stage to present his collections, which are imbued with an independent and provocative edge, and fashion shows reflecting a political stance that condemns discrimination and male dominance. Mind you, for one of his shows he hired an all-female, predominantly black team of step dancers instead of model, while in another show, the genitals of his male models were exposed—in all shows the strength of women is openly celebrated. Next to the display of over 100 silhouettes, the elaborate exhibition also presents Owens’s personal documents, as well as videos and a number of never-before-seen installations.

Additionally, a series of works by artists Gustave Moreau, Joseph Beuys and Steven Parrino provide insight into the designer’s many sources of inspiration, and obviously will show his work in a new light. Needless to say, the exhibition also sheds light on Michèle Lamy, the designer’s wife and business partner, and the influential role she plays in his creative output. The recreation of their old Californian bedroom symbolises this symbiotic bond. As said, the show extends outside, where tall statues wrapped in a sequined fabric lines the façade, while the garden, planted with Californian vines and plants, Owens’ fav greens, is dotted with specially designed Brutalist-style cement sculptures (on through Jan 4). © superfuture