FROM OUR ARCHIVES___ RICK OWENS
fluoro spoke with renowned fashion designer Rick Owens about an ongoing exploration of the intersection of contrasts. We asked about his furniture collection and design diversity.
For Owens his step into furniture design was an organic one, and was driven by a desire to create “at completely the other end of the spectrum to couture.” The pieces in the collection are particularly personal as Owens expresses “we couldn’t find exactly the kind of pieces we wanted for our home, so we thought we’d create them ourselves.”
Furniture, much like couture holds an emphasis on materials and is designed with the user in mind. However, furniture is crafted with the knowledge that it will be carefully selected for the home and given a place of its own. To Owens it is “more permanent, everlasting”. In the same way as his couture collections, materials guide Owens furniture designs. “To me, the materials are a starting point when I design something,” he said.
The materials Owens works with, ranges from the rare and ancient to the man-made and commonly accessible. The support of his “good network of suppliers, [who are] specialised in rare wood, like the fossilized wood I’ve used in the Prehistoric collection” make his works possible. Owens expresses to fluoro that his background in fashion has also supported this venture, “I’ve worked with softer natural materials like fur and bone for a long time so that was an obvious step. I was lucky, from my working in fashion I already knew the right people to talk to get hold of the best materials.”
Owens’ furniture speaks a language of juxtapositions. As he makes decisions about materials and form, he works to achieve a balance between ideas that originate from opposite ends of the scale. “It’s really about juxtaposition and contrast. Many of the pieces use everyday material such as plywood, next to rare and luxurious products like alabaster.” Owens highlights that this concept can be applied to society. “It’s like the world around us, it’s a mix of high and low. If you have too much of one or the other it can be nauseous, but to appreciate one you need the other. It’s all about balance.”
Owens is fascinated by the idea of thinking about the ancient and the futuristic at the same time (relating to his womenswear collections), a concept that is also seen throughout his ‘Prehistoric’ collection. Reflecting on this contrast, Owens draws ties to the way materials inspire him, “it’s not about one or the other they go hand-in-hand and you can’t look at the past without thinking about the present or the future. They are like mirrors to each other.” He also challenges the notion of what the terms ‘ancient’ and ‘futuristic’ actually encapsulate, he suggested to fluoro that “everybody’s always re-cycling and re-using ideas without being aware of it, so what we think of as ‘futuristic’ could simply be a mash-up of old ideas we’ve picked up along the way.”
Owens has plans to release future collections and is constantly experimenting with new textures to find new inspiration as he travels.
