Rick Owens is never one to disappoint when it comes to new and interesting footwear innovations.
And the American designer did just that at his fall/winter 2024 men’s show in Paris on Thursday, serving up a collection filled with showstopping shoes.
The shoes that caught everyone’s attention came via multiple pairs of inflated rubber pull-on stretch boots that Owens said is a collab with London designer Straytukay. In his show notes, Owens described the young designer, who experiments in architectural volumes, as having a “gift for technical construction.” The style was featured on the runway in black, forest green, eggshell, burgundy, and brown animal print colorways.
Other shoe standouts came in the form of Owens’ signature Kiss boots. The designer said in his notes that he saw a “cheekily improvised” version of his bestselling boots online and he “couldn’t help asking” London-based designer Leo Prothman permission to produce them.
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A new over-the-knee leather boot was also previewed this season. The style featured zip details along a cascade of leather coming down the front of the shoe that gathered over top of the toe.
Owens’ signature high-top sneakers also made an appearance this season.
The collection, titled “Porterville,” commemorates Owens’ Californian hometown, honoring his career milestones with utopian soldiers swollen and robust.
For his show this season, Owens moved away from his typical venue at Palais de Tokyo to a place more personal. “We are showing in my home and working compound where we began selling our collections 25 years ago – a respective move in observance of the barbaric times through which we are living,” Owens wrote in his show notes.
“But what I had intended as a respectful restraint may end up excluding a community that might have used my show to gather together for connection and solace. I might have to rethink this,” the designer added. “In the spirit of community, I have invited some of my favorite utopian creatives who live their aesthetic defiantly and completely.”
