Southern Californian Rick Owens began designing after a two-year stint in pattern cutting school in Los Angeles, where he founded his namesake line in 1994 and remained largely under the radar, with a small but dedicated following in the underground glam rock and grunge communities who prized his slim-fitting leather jackets and flowing, bias-cut jersey skirts and tops. The fashion industry eventually took note of his ability to marry a gothic, distressed sensibility with couture-like sophistication, and in 2001 Owens moved production of his line to Italy and relocated to Paris. With his partner Michèle Lamy, he conceives of collections that marry Classical influences to modern glamour, Brutalist design, and an ascetic tribalism. Asymmetrical tunics, sarouel shorts and harem pants, and Owens’ signature wedge heeled boots and Geobasket sneakers present a relentlessly original view of womenswear at once strong and soft, ancient and futuristic, priestly and profane.