Nicknamed the "Lord of Darkness," Rick Owens invented his own language: "Glunge" (a blend of glamour and grunge). His work on women is a celebration of architectural fluidity. He cuts his fabrics on the bias so they wrap around the body, creating silhouettes of modern priestesses, both statuesque and protective.
This season, radicalism takes on a sensual quality. Silk jersey sheath dresses trail nonchalantly on the floor, contrasting with the rigidity of leather jackets with pagoda shoulders. It's an elegance that defies norms, where the comfort of cashmere and the technicality of fabrics meet to enhance a powerful femininity.
About this selection
Since his beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1990s, Rick Owens has built one of the most coherent and immediately recognizable creative universes in contemporary fashion, that of a designer who invented his own aesthetic language without ever seeking to make it accessible or reassuring to those who don't share its references. "Glunge," a term coined to describe this particular alchemy between the draconian glamour of ancient goddesses and the organic rawness of Californian grunge, is not a marketing concept but an honest description of a creative sensibility that draws simultaneously from Madame Grès and the industrial suburbs of Los Angeles, from archaic Greek sculpture and the aesthetics of underground Berlin clubs.
Rick Owens' signature bias-cut technique produces effects that no other process can reproduce identically. Fabric cut along its diagonal grain acquires a fluidity and ability to drape around the body that transforms the garment into a natural extension of the silhouette rather than a structure imposed from the outside, creating those complex drapes and volumes that seem to obey laws of gravity slightly different from those governing the ordinary world. The SS26 women's collection pushes this exploration towards a new and unexpected sensuality, bringing silk jersey sheath dresses that nonchalantly trail on the ground into dialogue with the architectural rigidity of pagoda-shouldered leather jackets, in a formal and material tension that is the beating heart of the Owens vision. The comfort of cashmere and the technicality of the most contemporary materials meet in a wardrobe for modern priestesses, statuesque and protective, celebrating a powerful and sovereign femininity whose aesthetic radicalism has never sought to please everyone but to resonate deeply with those who recognize it as their own.
At Actuel B, we offer a selection from the Rick Owens women's collection, available in our stores in Avignon and Arles as well as on our website. Dresses, jackets, leather goods, and accessories are presented by teams trained in the dark and poetic universe of the house, with the personalized advice that characterizes our approach to multi-brand luxury.