The army of Rick Owens

Highlanders, blacksmiths, priests and druids, workmen, Norse gods, vagabonds and rebels, savants, pilots and hunters, shaved sasquatches, decommissioned soldiers, cavemen, alien aborigines: I'm sure you can come up with even more characters to fit Rick Owens' Fall 2009 collection.



But no matter how morbid his show may have been, who can resist his leather and beautifully layered jackets?



Shorts or chopped pants over leggings have been seen on many runways this season, but this layering of different materials over pants may just about top all of it.



The detailing of this distressed leather vest demands close attention. Just look at how the strategic stitches and creases create geometric sections. This piece can easily go with a biker in unwashed jeans (though he would be less entertaining or thought-provoking).



When there are no knee-high leather or fur boots, there are these chopped pants. Interesting combination with the hugely-cuffed coat and sheer (one-shoulder?) shirt.

This skinhead and wavy hair combination brings to mind Loki, the Norse god of mischief.



I wonder what the shirt (blouse?) underneath looks like. Is it attached to breeches?



Though this outfit may remind you of a seal, the combination of four (5? 6?) different fabrics actually tones down the use of fur.



What an interesting jacket, with the collar and the diagonal zipper. Now I'm wondering how one should close it.



Again the layering and the cropped pants. There is also something intriguing with the cut of the suit, which looks narrow and almost feminine.



The boots and the belt.



Those two plus the coat (short trench?).



This jacket looks very simple and practical for the season: sufficient license for the headgear.



Fur and animal skin never looked as edgy. This is my personal favorite piece.



I never expected to like Rick Owens, but even if his show and models looked unfriendly and his clothes seemed targetted only to a narrow audience, I am sure some of his pieces can make a killing.

Nothing but natural

There is always something sensual about fur.





The way it warms and clothes the body like second skin.





How such luxurious personal comfort elicits both protest and jealousy.





Just like the baring of skin.















These editorials are interesting because they simultaneously depict nakedness and the warmest of clothing.



Fur in all its unabashed, primal glory.



Images from AnOther Man, 2008-2009 Fall/Winter and Vogue Hommes International Paris 2007-2008 Fall/Winter

Gareth Pugh: Skin, fur, and scales

I must admit that at first glance, Gareth Pugh's Fall 2009 collection was not easy to look at. The clothes are visually violent, aggressive in how they express their futuristic and wild aesthetic.



An animalistic spirit is alive in the outfits. There are coats that look like armor - stiff, metallic, and geometric.





The fabric of the coats is even used for a jacket constructed like an obi. Pugh also employs the protective covering of other animals, such as fur. But the way this tunic is made also appears threatening: it has large shoulders and the length of the hair reminds you of its origin.





Other outfits utilize man-made armor, like chainmail. Even the boots are bound to ward of predators.



Blown up, the small geometric pattern resembles those used by harlequins. Using it for puffers is clever.





Rendered in all black, the armor now looks like snakeskin.





While the sheen of these fabrics remind one of slick black kelp.



The interpretations for this collection are slippery, like slimy eels.





These black and wet things awaken our deep-seated fear, but also fascination, of the grotesque.



These headpieces look like squid or seaweed thrown from the ocean.



From afar, the pins on the jacket and the trench look like thin animal hair. For such menacing creatures brought to mind by the collection, the dangerous seems perfectly natural.





Loose hairs and feathers look no different from ripped and tattered fabric.





The outfits look as if they just landed from another planet, or they just rose from the depths.



This post is part of a set in reply to a query by Nihaal Faizal from India on the topic of his sketches and on science fiction