Rick Owens: Rare Footage and Humble Beginnings. A visionary artist seems to have no place of origin. They are not a product of their environment, rather, their environment is the product of an unbridled creativity that affects everything in the artist’s proximity. It is difficult to imagine Rick Owens sleeping anywhere besides for his austere concrete temples in Italy and Paris. Yet before the skulls, antlers, and sarcophagus, there was working-class Porterville, California. For the entirety of his life, Owens has never been part of the “in” crowd. It makes total sense that he champions misfits in his work, acting as the torch-bearer for those spat on by the establishment. Rick was raised in a conservative christian household without a television, and he was bullied at school growing up. After his forced alienation, he seems to have developed a taste for being an outcast, as he is now unwilling to learn French as a resident of Paris. In 2013, he confirmed that isolation strengthens his creative process, saying “I’m even grateful for the bullying, because it motivated me.” Following his less than idyllic childhood, Owens enrolled in art school with dreams of becoming a painter. However, he dropped out after 2 years, opting to study pattern cutting at a trade school instead. He proceeded to find a job cutting patterns for counterfeit designer clothes, giving him a technical foundation for his later work. Rick spent his 20s and his 30s working in Los Angeles, indulging in the seedy nightlife and the copious drug use that often comes with it. Fortunately, he got sober and started his eponymous brand in 1994 at the age of 32. From collections like Tecautl referencing his Mexican heritage to him playing Alice Cooper at his first runway show, Rick has always found a way to honor his past while inventing the present. He has synthesized both the positive and negative into his clothing, making his collections intensely personal. By combining stark honesty with his sweeping imagination, Rick Owens uses the insecurities of the real world to fuel the magic of his brand and give his work universal substance. Writer: @9amest_ Scan Provider: @dampmagazines