Rick Owens Talks Rock Music in Wake of New Book Release
The rule-breaking designer shares the playlist currently making him tick.
In the wake of publishing two books, Rick Owens has a lot to say about past, present, and future of fashion. The first, RICK OWENS PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANIELLE LEVITT, is a testament to Owens’ own career with 150 photographs outlining the politically-minded designer’s decades-long career. The second, LEGASPI, details the life’s work of the avant-garde designer behind the space-age rocker aesthetic we’ve come to associate with ’70s glam, Larry Legaspi. Legaspi created looks for KISS, Patti LaBelle, and George Clinton, to name a few, but remained relatively unsung until dying of AIDS in 2001. LEGASPI is Owens’ tribute to the influential designer, and Owens admits that the work is less a biography and more a portrait.
“This book is shamelessly about me. I’ve edited Larry’s work into a composition of the designer I wanted him to be, and the kind of designer I hoped to be,” said Owens.
From Hollywood Boulevard to Paris to London, Owens’ career has taken him across the world, only expanding his breadth of inspiration. His first fashion company, Owenscorp, played with ideals of bohemian artistry and corporate reality, and Owens has only pushed the envelope since. In celebration of his two recent releases, Owens has shared with V a playlist of his favorite tracks, songs that have influenced him before and influence him today.
KISS- DETROIT ROCK CITY….
SPEEDING IN MY BLACK T TOP CAMARO OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE LIGHTS OF LOS ANGELES IN THE DISTANCE AND A BOTTLE OF VODKA BETWEEN MY LEGS TO THIS SONG IS ONE OF THE DEFINING MOMENTS OF MY RECKLESS YOUTH. THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS SONG HAD A CAR CRASH AS THE FINALE WHICH WAS OMITTED IN SUBSEQUENT RELEASES….THE MIX OF LARRYS ART DECO CAMP WITH THEIR MENACING TESTOSTERONE REMAINS MY STANDARD OF MASCULINITY.
LABELLE – GOING DOWN MAKES ME SHIVER ….
SWEEPING MONUMENTAL SONG RHAPSODIZING OVER COCKSUCKING. LARRYS CLOTHES MADE THEM LOOK LIKE FRITZ LANG SHOWGIRLS.
GRACE JONES- LA VIE EN ROSE….
PIAF CLASSIC HARDENED AND GALVANIZED BY GRACES DEADPAN HARSH DELIVERY….. SENTIMENTAL, COLD AND ANGUISHED ALL AT ONCE. I REMEMBER SEEING HER FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW IN THE SEVENTIES WEARING A FOXTAIL COVERED CAPE THAT SHE PEELED OFF (WHILE SPINNING) TO REVEAL A NUDE BODYSUIT WITH A LONG HORSETAIL BELT. CHANGED MY LIFE.
