AW21 Rick Owens Gethsemane Gethshades

Rick Owens, a maverick born under the California sun in 1961. Raised in a traditional Catholic home, Owens' early life was steeped in oppression, discipline and ritual, threads that would later weave into his structured yet rebellious silhouettes. His journey from Porterville to Paris started after his pivot from art studies to pattern-making and draping. 

He first cut his teeth in the garment industry by crafting imitations of high-end designs before launching his own label in 1994. A pivotal moment came when Kate Moss appeared in Vogue Paris, swathed in one of his iconic leather jackets, captured through the gritty lens of Corrine Day. Propelling Rick Owens into the international limelight. In 2003, Owens relocated to Paris with his partner Michèle Lamy, establishing both his home and atelier in a historic five-story building that once housed offices for former French President François Mitterrand.

Rick Owens' Autumn/Winter 2021 menswear collection, Gethsemane, materialized as a sartorial meditation on a world teetering on the edge of uncertainty. Drawing its name from the biblical garden where Jesus sought solace before his crucifixion, the collection encapsulates a moment of suspended tension—a collective pause between foreboding and hope. For Owens, Gethsemane was also a personal response to the rise of bigoted energy and male aggression in the world, a force he had felt threatened by growing up and to which he remained highly reactive. 

The silhouettes in Gethsemane are fortresses of fabric and form. Leather and shearling jackets and coats envelop the body with integrated gloves and high zips, creating a cocoon of isolation. These garments act as shields, veiling the wearer from a world gone awry. Skin-tight leather bodysuits, often peeled to hang from the hips, serve as a second skin—reminding us of the vulnerability that lies beneath the armor.

Sharp, geometrically cut shoulders on tailored coats and cropped bombers take a satirical jab at the absurdity of male conservatism, further exaggerated by tighty-whities paired with towering platform Kiss boots. Most models embraced face masks (with the exception of Tyrone Dylan), underscoring a profound acknowledgment of the ongoing global pandemic. Owens described the masks as "a vote for responsibility and consideration and an acknowledgment of our immediate collective experience."

The collection also introduced the Gethshades sunglasses. These shades feature a sleek, slim rectangular black acetate frame with a single cut lens, supported by wide arms adorned with Owens' signature trio of silver rivets on each temple. The Gethshades have since found their way onto the faces of some of today’s most influential rappers, cementing their status as a cultural touchstone.