ALL ABOUT RICK: A recreation of the California bedroom he shared with his wife Michèle Lamy — plus 30 brutalist cement sculptures — are all part of a large-scale Rick Owens exhibition opening at the Palais Galliera on June 28.
On Friday, the Paris fashion museum shared details of the show, titled “Temple of Love,” which will cover the American designer’s entire career and extend to the facade of the building and its garden, with statues wrapped in a fabric embroidered with sequins. This confirms a report in WWD on Feb. 7 that an exhibition was in the works.
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Owens is serving as artistic director of the show, which Palais Galliera describes as “unprecedented” in scale and scope.
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“It is a meditation on love, beauty and diversity, presented in a monumental setting,” it said.
The retrospective is to feature more than 100 fashion silhouettes, in addition to personal documents, videos, installations and works by Gustave Moreau, Joseph Beuys and Steven Parrino.
Owens began his fashion career as a pattern-cutter in Los Angeles before launching his label in 1994, taking inspiration from underground culture and 1930s glamour.
Over his long and fruitful career, he has drawn on a “wide range of references,” according to the museum, listing as examples Joris-Karl Huysmans, contemporary art and early Hollywood films, including the biblical epics by Cecil B. DeMille that inspired his epic spring 2025 menswear show.
The showcase is also to focus on “the central role” played by Lamy, “whose presence is felt throughout the exhibition,” according to the museum.
Owens moved himself and his business to Paris in 2003, where his shows have become a highlight of Paris Fashion Week. He once showcased his women’s collection on American college step teams, and casually exposed male models’ genitalia in a 2015 show that earned the nickname “Free Willy.”
Miren Arzalluz, honorary director of the Palais Galliera, serves as general curator of “Rick Owens: Temple of Love,” while Alexandre Samson, head of collections, serves as scientific curator.
Milan’s La Triennale museum staged a retrospective about Owens’ career in 2017 titled “Subhuman Inhuman Superhuman.”