Rick Owens

Richard Saturnino Owens, better known as Rick Owens, has turned his darkly glamorous, post-apocalyptic take on gothic grunge into a globally renowned fashion business. As of February 2026, Owens remains one of the few high-fashion designers to maintain 100 per cent independence and ownership of his organisation, with annual revenues estimated to exceed €150 million. In addition to his main line, Owens operates a furniture line and several diffusion labels: DRKSHDW, Rickowenslilies and Hunrickowens.

Having dropped out of Otis College of Art and Design, Owens took a course in pattern cutting at Los Angeles’s Trade Technical College. A scarcity of work led to Owens accepting a position cutting patterns for illegal copies of designer clothing. In 1994, he began his own label, selling exclusively to Charles Gallay, one of LA’s most directional retailers. In 2001, the designer sought international expansion and agreed a distribution deal with Eo Bocci Associati, relocating production to Italy.

Owens broke into the highest echelons of the industry after French Vogue ran an image of Kate Moss wearing one of his signature leather jackets. With support from Anna Wintour and Vogue, the publication sponsored his debut show at New York Fashion Week for the Spring/Summer 2002 season. He also began a long-standing collaboration with stylist Panos Yiapanis in 2001, who has worked on every presentation to date.

In 2002, Owens was appointed artistic director at the French fur company Revillon. This led him to move from Los Angeles to Paris, where he began showing during the Paris collections. He continued to design for the house until 2007.

The designer has been honoured by the CFDA several times, including the Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent (2002) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2017). In October 2024, marking the 30th anniversary of his brand, Owens received the Superstar Award from Fashion Group International (FGI) in recognition of his enduring creative autonomy and systemic defiance.

Owens’ recent creative output has focused on a deeply personal retrospective cycle known as the “Porterville” trilogy. His Autumn/Winter 2025 “Porterville” and Spring/Summer 2026 “The White Dust” presentations at the Palais de Tokyo eschewed traditional models in favour of casts of 200 fashion students. In 2025, he expanded his retail footprint with a significant new flagship in Seoul and a dedicated furniture gallery in Paris. Owens has authored several books, including “Rick Owens Furniture“ (2017) and “Legaspi: Larry Legaspi, the 70s, and the Future of Fashion”(2019). He remains based in Paris with his wife and business partner, Michèle Lamy.