Designer Rick Owens and photographer Danielle Levitt first worked together to document Owens’ landmark Spring/Summer 2014 show, Vicious, where he invited step teams from the US to show, while performing, his collection. “I was interested in these step teams who formed as a response to racial tension within schools in the 1960s,” explains Owens. “And Levitt, I loved how she was attracted to tribes, documenting people who have found a common ground and come together to create a family.”
As Rizzoli’s latest book More Rick Owens attests to, the project marked the beginning of a significant, devoted creative relationship that has only deepened with time. Since this first collaboration, Levitt has become Owens’ unofficial “archivist”, documenting each collection, and the designer’s evolution, with her “clear-eyed honesty and tenderness.”
To mark the release of the new book, Owens and Levitt (joined briefly by Owens’ wife Michèle Lamy) sat down to chat and reminisce on how they first met, and how their relationship has grown since.
Danielle Levitt: I remember everything about how we met – Chris Wallace introduced us. Well, he introduced me to Michèle, as she wanted to do a project documenting the furniture. So, I came to Paris and met Michèle. And then she invited me to make this film for AnOther actually. I was with you two for the week. And I remember you said, “Oh, she’s cute.” Then after that, you kind of ignored me for the first three days. [Laughs].
Rick Owens: But I liked the outcome of the documentary and thought, “Oh, what a good idea. Why don’t I make a documentary for my next show?” Since I’m doing this project documenting step teams coming from New Jersey, Washington, and New York.
DL: You asked me to do the documentary and I thought it was important to take images of the girls at the show. I set up a photobooth backstage and shot all these incredible photographs of the girls in their true power. I don’t think prior you’d documented any of your shows in that formal way. And I shoot differently to how you think people see you. You know, I’m bright and it’s on white. But then you were like, “Oh, this is interesting. Danielle, will you come and document the next one?” So now we’ve been doing this four times a year ever since. But I remember at the beginning, I’d always say, “Oh Rick, should we do something different!” And you were like, “No doll. We don’t need to do anything different.”
RO: Because I believe in consistency. I think what makes something powerful is repetition and confidence in sticking to a certain thing. Not having to tweak it or not having to decorate it or fuss with it. If it’s strong it’s strong, and it’ll work and that’s what makes this body of work significant. The fact that it is very steady and steadfast.
DL: And you are correct. I look back at this work now and had I changed lighting from season to season, it wouldn’t have the power it does. It allows you to understand what you’ve done and see the evolution so clearly because you’re not distracted by anything. It’s the reason I call myself an archivist because this is like archiving your choices, right? My stamp is just like the clearest way to see what you do.
“I believe in consistency. I think what makes something powerful is repetition and confidence in sticking to a certain thing” – Rick Owens
RO: But it’s also capturing certain gestures and you pull things out of people in a very specific way. That’s all you. I mean, there’s an alchemy happening there.
DL: I have a particular style on set that might not be that common. [Laughs]. I scream and I dance and I twirl around. Now that a lot of the models know me – because you always use the same models – they love it, they love the energy. Everybody’s excited to be there. It’s like a little bit of a dance party after the show.
RO: And we have Brutalismus 3000 playing full blast. What I like in our work together is that it makes sense. As a creature of habit, I like things very consistent. Also, I believe that if you repeat something often enough, it becomes true.
DL: Agreed, agreed.
RO: That’s a big part of my shtick. I always wonder when the day will come where I get that balance wrong. I’ve seen it happen in the world and it kind of freaks me out. But it’s a tricky little balance, like, are you being repetitive and lazy? Or are you being consistent and solid? And you really just have to keep a close eye on it.
DL: I will interject. Rick, you’re thinking a lot about the work that we do together. But the other thing is, I went last year with Michèle Lamy to see her daughter and their kids. Michèle wanted to take a photo shoot in a cemetery that had topiaries. My husband said, “Danielle, you’re like Annie Leibovitz. The way that Annie Leibovitz was to the Rolling Stones, you are to Rick and Michèle.” And that’s the thing that I love – I’ve been documenting everything. I don’t think there’s another photographer who has more photographs of you and Michèle.
Michèle Lamy joins the conversation.
RO: Hun, we’ve been talking about how we met. Do you remember? Through Chris Wallace.
Michèle Lamy: Of course. Somewhere along the way Chris became a writer and wanted to make movies and continue our story. And he called and said we should do something with the furniture. And then he said, “I have someone to be the director and the DP and everything in one person.” Which was you, Danielle.
DL: Yes, Chris worked with you guys at Les Deux Café. He's brilliant. He’s a writer, he’s a photographer.
ML: Back then he was a maître d’.
DL: And also, if you were to ask him, he was way more than that. He took care of you two, as you were navigating a very strong nightlife …
RO: Oh, he carried us home.
DL: He would carry you home. His relationship with you is so important to him. You’re like family.
RO: I guess to get back to the book, it’s not like I hired you to document my life. You just became family and moved in.
DL: When I look at the book, these images are not about me. This is about me wanting to create something that is how you want to see yourself. So, when I see these images, I feel proud of that accomplishment.
RO: What’s really special about this book is that four of the collections were during Covid. We shot it with a skeleton crew in Lido, Venice, because I live out there most of the summer. It's a two-hour drive from the factory. So, we were able to get our factory team out on a couple of trucks with the clothes, take them to my place in Lido and do these runway shows on the beach. It was in January. It was freezing cold. And in winter, they build these dunes so that the water doesn’t flood the streets. To get to our runway, the models had to climb over these dunes in platform boots. That was fun.
They were very moving experiences because it was an uncertain time for everybody. And us, kind of banding together and putting on this little scotch-taped dog and pony show in the face of all that uncertainty and threat.
DL: And you still had smoke. There always has to be fog. Even at the beach.
“I feel grateful that the person that I’m having a creative connection with is you because fashion is such a fickle place. You are an incredibly loyal friend, and creative partner” – Danielle Levitt
RO: We did personalised fog machines that you could carry.
DL: Also the shoes had fog machines in them.
RO: And then there was the Tempio Votivo show where you wore the red coat.
DL: The red coat that never dies. I brought this fabulous fun red coat. And everything at the Lido in January is grey and everything in Rick’s collection was black, grey, oyster.
RO: Everything was grey like a beautiful ossuary temple. We have a video where Danielle is running around shooting pictures wearing this red coat.
DL: Yes, I was on the perimeter but somehow I was in every frame. It was the first time I’ve seen Rick get angry.
RO: Oh, I didn’t get angry!
DL: But we all know collectively that the red coat was a problem. [Laughs]. And guess where that red coat has lived since? The closet – retired. It’s been fun. I feel very grateful that we’ve had this creative connection. And I feel grateful that the person that I’m having a creative connection with is you because fashion is such a fickle place. You are an incredibly loyal friend, and creative partner and I feel very lucky to be able to … I mean, I’d move mountains. You get to the point where you just want to create for somebody. You want to give back to them as they give to you.
More Rick Owens by Rick Owens and Danielle Levitt is published by Rizzoli and is out now.