Rick Owens possesses a quality that not all designers have\u2014one that truly distinguishes a good creative from a fashion icon: the ability to always remain true to himself, yet still manage to surprise us every time. It is precisely this tension between consistency and unpredictability that has allowed him to conquer Paris\u2014starting from a narrow niche, almost like a community of devotees rather than enthusiasts, given the almost ritualistic nature of his creations\u2014and eventually reach a global audience. His aesthetic, often simplified with the label \u201cdark,\u201d is actually much more complex and spans the uncanny, the marginal, and everything that is deliberately unsettling, giving form and visibility to bodies and imaginaries that rarely find a place in the traditional glamour of the runway. And as often happens in fashion, when a subculture is recognized and validated by the system, it ends up transforming into mainstream language: provocation becomes aesthetics, and the margins become the center. This also happened to Rick Owens, who, however, instead of taming his creative universe, chose to use its success as an amplifier for his own language. <\/p>\n\n
With the Rick Owens Men\u2019s SS27 collection, which just debuted on the runway in Paris, this approach reaches one of its most extreme points (at least for now). The designer further exaggerates proportions, taking his obsession with volume to the extreme: silhouettes expand, distort, and multiply, eventually transforming into wearable architecture. Even elements that have already gone viral in the past, such as inflatable boots, return to redefine the boundary between body and object, as well as between function and provocation. <\/p>\n\n
But the real highlight of the show is the collaboration with adidas, which comes nearly 10 years after their first collaboration in 2017 and introduces an additional layer of tension to Rick Owens\u2019 work. The iconic three stripes of sportswear are woven into his dark, sculptural universe, creating a visual short circuit between performance wear and streetwear. To simply call them \u201coversized\u201d would be an understatement: the pieces presented\u2014from bomber jackets that are almost certain to go viral to structured jumpsuits with internal ventilation systems\u2014seem designed more like living organisms than like clothes. As reported by Hypebeast, the designer collaborated with adidas\u2019s Climacool technology to create jackets that inflate into enormous sculptural \u201cbubbles,\u201d allowing built-in fans to cool the wearer. Added to this are shorts equipped with fans and a cooling vest (adidas\u2019s latest innovation for soccer players who will face the extreme heat of the 2026 World Cup), creating what Rick Owens calls a \u201cpersonal air conditioning system.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Alongside these extreme designs, however, more \u201cwearable\u201d pieces also emerge, at least according to Rick Owens\u2019s aesthetic: iconic jumpsuits reinterpreted through his lens, garments that become uniforms for nocturnal creatures, enriched with capes, theatrical volumes, and sculptural silhouettes that transform the body into a stage presence. And this is where his true strength lies\u2014the very thing we were discussing earlier: the ability to repeat himself without ever becoming predictable. Rick Owens is, after all, always making the same creative gesture, but each time he manages to make it seem new, more radical, and more necessary. <\/p>\n\n