the apple of fashion

I recently introduced a friend of mine to independent high-end designers. Sooner or later, we landed at Rick Owens. After telling him a bit about the brand and the designer he concluded: „So, that’s basically the Apple of fashion.“
In terms of aesthetics, the comparison might seem worlds apart – on the one hand Apple, super clean, light and without any form of imperfection; on the other, Rick Owens, dark, bold and with a T-Shirt that literally has the word „Urinal“ printed on it as part of his product portfolio…

Nevertheless, the observation immediately resonated with me, because on an abstract level, the two seemed to be very much alike.

I now find three similarities between the brands that are particularly intriguing:

One unified platform
Incremental change
Central cult leader.

One unified platform

Similar to the Apple suite a Rick Owens look works best when worn in its entirety.

Think of Apple: it is not enough to own a MacBook, it works best with an iPhone. AirDrop, iCloud, etc., everything is connected. And, who uses an iPad without the Apple pen? Do you want comprehensive health information and a fast way to read and reply to alerts – this works best if you also own the Apple watch.

The same can be said about Rick Owens. You might own his signature sneaker, the “Geobasket”, well good luck finding a better pair of pants for them than his drop-crotch joggers (“Rick’s Pods”), full-zipped dress pants (“Bolan Banana”) or super-wide Jeans (“Bolan Bootcut”). All of these are quite out there and to make them work you will need to buy one of his tees, that drapes so flawlessly over the pants. Finally, a Rick Owens Jacket is the best way to finish off your grim reaper-type fit.

2017 was the first time I saw a full Rick Owens fit – which I only understood about 3 years later. Back then, it put me off how different the person wearing it looked from everyone else. At the same time, I was extremely impressed by how well it all worked together (I hope you can tell how memorable the look was by the fact that I remember it was at Radetzky in Milan 6 years later…).

Anyway, connectedness within a proprietary and separated cosmos and offering a fully integrated product suite applies to both Apple and Rick Owens.

Incremental change

Incremental change refers to improving small elements with a new iteration of an already existing product.

There are even memes about incremental change at Apple and them slapping yet another lens on the back of every other new version of the iPhone. But what characterizes Apple’s new launches most is their continuous improvement. They take what is good and upgrade it with great consistency.

The same holds for Rick Owens.

He first introduced a heel on men in 2005. Later, the Kiss heel, a unisex platform high heel in 2019 in black. Over time, the silhouette has received updates and they are now offered in a multitude of colours and types of leathers¹. A similar development occurred with his puffer jackets. He started with his version of such a jacket; then introduced a strap on the back, which eventually became a brand’s signature that we now find on many of Owen’s jackets. Rick Owens finally began to collaborate with Moncler on puffer jackets, further improving manufacturing and endurance. The approach of incremental change even applies to his colour palette, which he widens every season but ensures that it fits with previously used colours.

Careful incremental change characterizes Apple and Rick Owens. Both know their strengths and keep on improving from year to year / season to season. But whatever they do, it will always fit into the platform that has already been created and will enable their respective cult following to dive even deeper into their universes.

Central cult leader

Apple has Steve Jobs, Rick Owens has Rick Owens.

Apple’s release events centred around Steve Jobs presenting the products in his signature style – wardrobe and rhetoric – will forever be legendary. Old Steve Jobs interviews have millions of clicks on YouTube and multiple biographies tell the story of his genius.

Similarly, Rick Owens has had multiple highly relevant interviews over the years too, e.g., his controversial “10 rules of style” from 2009, which are regularly quoted on social media². A recent Vogue interview where he shows off objects of affection in his house in Concordia, Italy, even went viral³. Furthermore, he has wax puppets of himself in almost each of his stores and the community loves it.

Fans of the brand are not only invested in the brand but also in the story of the American misfit who followed and stayed true to his vision – this holds for Rick Owens and Steve Jobs.

One unified platform, incremental change and cult leader centricity make Rick Owens the Apple of fashion – thank you Martin for the idea!