From runway scandals to provocative art, these are the 10 most important pieces that make up the puzzle that is Rick Owens' career.

<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/rick-owens-footwear-collaborations-adidas-birkenstock-shoes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rick Owens</a> is one of those fashion designers whose influence in the industry continues to multiply. His career is marked by unforgettable moments that have solidified his namesake brand as a key player in fashion history. From his most important fashion shows, which often result in a scandalous uproar, to the relationship with his wife Mich&egrave;le Lamy, with whom he co-founded the brand in the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/90s-outfits-celebrity-fashion-making-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'90s</a>, Owens' career and reputation as a provocateur are built on key influential figures and over 20 years of groundbreaking collections. The public's attention often focuses on his irreverent approach to videos, images, exhibitions, and collections, pushed by his unmistakable pension for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/costume-designer-patricia-field-emily-in-paris-season-2-sex-and-the-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dark clothing</a>. For a retrospective on&nbsp;Owens' creative genius, L'OFFICIEL traces the 10 most salient moments of the designer's career.

Model, fashion designer, performer, and artist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/michele-lamy-boxing-rick-owens-fashion" target="_blank">Mich&egrave;le Lamy</a> is both Owens&#39; wife and muse. In 1990, she designed the&nbsp;clothing line&nbsp;Lamy.&nbsp;In that time, Owens&nbsp;joined the company. He later became her&nbsp;business partner and eventually her husband. In 2003, they moved from Los Angeles to&nbsp;Paris, before getting married in 2006.

Michèle Lamy

Owens is also famous for his irreverent portraits. In 2014, he shared an older piece of his artwork on Twitter with the&nbsp;caption,&nbsp;"Rick Owens, Blow Job, 2006."&nbsp;

Desacrating Art

Desecrating Art

Among Owens&#39; most famous scandals, the most shocking&nbsp;was certainly during the <a href="https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2015-menswear/rick-owens" target="_blank">Men&#39;s Fall/Winter&nbsp;2015</a> fashion show. Some models&nbsp;wore tunic dresses,&nbsp;without underwear, that gave audiences an unobstructed view of their <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/topless-model-runway-moments" target="_blank">genitalia</a>. Owens had argued his choice thus,&nbsp;&quot;I thought it was the simplest and most primal gesture, you know I love simple gestures that give a blow.&quot;

Fall/Winter 2015 collection

Fall/Winter 2015 Collection

In 2018, the Triennale di Milano hosted a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/a-retrospective-on-rick-owens-is-coming" target="_blank">retrospective</a> to celebrate the first 20 years of the designer&#39;s career. The exhibition included clothes from past collections, accessories, furnishings, installations, videos, publications, and performances selected by the designer himself.

The "Rick Owens: Subhuman Inhuman Superman" Exhibition

The 'Rick Owens: Subhuman Inhuman Superman' Exhibition

As a&nbsp;young creative, Owens&nbsp;was inspired by the career of the fashion designer <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/met-costume-institute-about-time-fashion-andrew-bolton-interview" target="_blank">Charles James</a>.&nbsp;In 2019, Owens&nbsp;wrote the preface to a book on the late couturier, recalling,&nbsp;&quot;When I started, my goal was to become the new Charles James.&quot;

Charles James

Owens' fashion shows are typically characterized by moments of performance that are impossible to forget. For his <a href="https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2014-ready-to-wear/rick-owens#gallery-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spring/Summer 2014 collection</a>, Owens worked with choreographers&nbsp;Lauretta Malloy Noble and her daughter LeeAnet&nbsp;to incorporate a combination of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/deerdana-sock-collection-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepping</a> and traditional Zulu dance into the show. Casting from four sorority step teams (Washington Divas, Soul Steppers, The Momentums, and The Zetas), 40 models performed in dresses that enveloped and transfigured the body. To accommodate the movements necessary for the choreography, Owens focused on clothing with stitching, lacing, slits, and zippers that offered maximum functionality.

Spring/Summer 2014 collection

Inside the Rick Owens stores, there are clear tributes to the creations of artist and designer <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/frieze-london-guide-2019" target="_blank">Allen Jones</a>. Poses of submission are transformed into hyper-realistic sculptures that support tables, armchairs, and seats for the dressing rooms. This inclusion is a tribute to Jones&#39; provocative art of the 1970s.

Allen Jones

With his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielitalia.com/fashion-week/rick-owens-men-spring-summer-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spring/Summer 2020 show at the Palais De Tokyo in Paris</a>, Owens explores his Mexican origins and roots, incorporating elements of his childhood, without using folkloric clich&eacute;. The title of the show, "Tecuatl," is the maiden name of his maternal grandmother.

His Mexican Heritage

Spring/Summer 2020 Collection

The assumptions about his sexual practices and Owens' sexual orientation add to the elusiveness and extremity&nbsp;surrounding his collections. In fact, the designer has shared a series of irreverent images and videos which expressed the same&nbsp;erotic elements found&nbsp;in his work, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/helmut-lang-re-edition-byronesque-bondage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bondage</a> with harnesses (as seen on his runways), as well as&nbsp;fetish and pissing practices.
The <a href="https://vimeo.com/214545538" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christeene x Rick Owens' Butt Muscle</a> video perfectly captures Owens' particular creative sensibility.

Fetish

Owens' <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/men/rick-owens-fall-winter-2021-converse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Men's Fall/Winter 2021 collection</a>, presented at the Votive Temple in Venice, provoked a negative response from some for presenting underwear models in front of the religious place. The complaints come directly from the religious and conservative Italian public.
In the photo, jewelry designer and model Tyron Dilan poses in Owens' direction on a white vintage car in front of the Votive Temple.

10 Career-Defining Moments That Shaped Rick Owens

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