Rick Owens Fall 2018 - Runway Review

Rick Owens, who is often associated with grand runway gestures, made a quieter statement this season, perhaps sensing that showmanship and spectacle can wear out their welcome. He set his runway show to several versions of the old standard, "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," though the collection itself had none of the three. Instead, it focused on seduction in its most basic form, creating soft sensuality with padded parkas worn over shorts; tunics and dresses with down-filled bulbous contusions and checked dresses, shirts, cross-body bags and backpacks that swaddled the body, all worn with basic sneakers or ankle boots. 

Patchwork overcoats and work shirts with oversized cargo pockets, some trailing loose filaments, bits of yarn or hand-painted with brushstrokes, spoke to the emerging trend of imperfect decoration and details. Although the collection concept may have been fairly abstract, the effect was some of the most accessible clothes we've seen from Owens in recent memory, which in and of itself made a lot of noise.