Owens rick

i have already given up on hope again

portrait by LUKE MAYES
interview by SVEN SCHUMANN

SVEN SCHUMANN — Rick, you described the presentation of your last spring/summer collection as “a show about hope.” Hope for what?

RICK OWENS — Shows are so autobiographical, and I’ve been concentrating on doom for so long. But culturally things seem to be declining, so I was thinking, “How do you handle that gracefully?” I might have driven that morose mood into the ground with my last couple of shows so I thought I’d give everybody a break and think in a more positive direction and concentrate on how the creative expression is itself a gesture of hope. It’s the opposite of death. The funny thing is, I have already given up on hope again, and now I’m just thinking of anger and aggression.

SVEN SCHUMANN — Why?

RICK OWENS — Because hope…