The only expectation one should have for Rick Owens' runway shows is that there is no expectation. Fashion's resident Lord of Darkness is an unpredictable talent who's just as keen as he is to build upon his own established worldview as he is to shred everything and start fresh each season.
If anything, Spring/Summer 2024 is surprising because it's actually pretty classic, as far as Rick Owens goes.
Billowing tunics, shirts that turn in on themselves, floor-scraping slacks, Owens' typically austere formalwear: it's all here. Now, this is admittedly a far cry from the boxy T-shirt, drop-crotch pants of yore but it's also not neon mohair or navel-high tank tops.
But you can see all that from the SS24 runway imagery. What we're here to talk about, instead, is Rick Owens' new footwear designs, which look more like medical devices than his ever-popular (and frequently sold out) sneakers.
Meet the Rick Owens walking boot, which hit the runway alongside some similarly strappy platform heels — a Rick Owens staple by now — and trek-style sandals.
The medical boot-looking shoe is the most intriguing, because it's one of Owens' wildest shoes in some time.
It actually reminds me of a few things: the shoe-in-shoe concept explored by Sankuanz several years ago and MSCHF Sneakers' AC.1, itself a take on the walking boot.
The latter is a little ironic because MSCHF used the SS24 Rick Owens show to reveal the MSCHF x Crocs Boot by way of a typically outré Tommy Cash outfit.
Anyways, Rick Owens' take on the walking boot obviously isn't a direct reference, like MSCHF's creation. Owens' shoe is a super-strappy and tall AF sandal that's obviously inspired by his own Brutalist inclinations, what with its refined shape and straightforward design.
It ain't for everyone but neither is Rick Owens. Either you get it or you can take a hike, preferably in one of Owens' comparatively conventional sneakers.
