Water gushes from a fountain, symbolizing the flow of a hope that pierces the cold rigidity of stone, of a present scarred by war and violence. The same desire for positivity that Rick Owens conveys with his women’s collection for SS2024, as his creations skim the fountain at the Palais de Tokyo.

Owens seems to be doing politics, the deep kind that does not leave out what is happening in history, mimics its wounds with minimalist will, and transforms it with the desire for hope whispered by colors and shapes that knot and swell in the wind.

The severity of the colonnade and the models’ gazes recall the rigor of Dune’s sets, but the verticality of cuts and figures hints at the transcendence of a mantra, which in the background repeats: “I still believe in love”. It is Rick Owens’ that is the most significant and surprising fashion show.