Rick Owens and Hood By Air

Deprecated: htmlentities(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($flags) of type int is deprecated in /home/purpleinstitute/preprod/releases/20260106124831Z/web/app/themes/purple/includes/class.magarticlehelper.php on line 52
Portrait by Olivier Zahm

interview and portrait by OLIVIER ZAHM
photography by MARTIEN MULDER

 

We knew that Shayne Oliver, designer of Hood By Air, was a fan of the radical American fashion designer, Rick Owens. We didn’t know that the admiration was reciprocal. In this, their first dialogue, they discover shared interests — music, dance, sex, and transgender culture — and talk about what they have in common, one generation apart.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Had you two met before in Paris or New York?
RICK OWENS — Yes. In Paris, because I never go to New York.
SHAYNE OLIVER — We met at Pierre Rougier’s place, when he had that little cocktail party.
RICK OWENS — Oh right. Because you’re 26, so I never would have known you in New York.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You don’t go to New York anymore?
RICK OWENS — I…