Designer Rick Owens showcased his Fall 2026 ready-to-wear women's collection at Paris Fashion Week, drawing inspiration from Marlene Dietrich and themes of response to threat. The show at Palais de Tokyo featured battle-ready silhouettes in earthy tones, incorporating innovative materials like Kevlar and goat hair. Owens described the collection as embodying ferocious glamour amid global crises.
Rick Owens unveiled his Fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection on March 5, 2026, at the Palais de Tokyo during Paris Fashion Week. This women's lineup, titled the second chapter of “TOWER,” followed his January men's show, where he addressed “enforcement energy that’s surrounding us,” referencing anti-immigrant actions in Minnesota. With ongoing conflicts in Iran and the Middle East, Owens reflected on fashion's role in crisis, stating, “I was thinking about rising to the occasion; I was thinking that how you respond to threat defines character.”
The collection evoked a warrior woman tribe with muddy, dun-colored garments that were swaddled and enveloping, blending practicality with extravagance. Models wore shorts paired with towering heeled boots, tactical elements like snaps and pockets, and transformative silhouettes. Key pieces included strapless column dresses made from Kevlar—five times stronger than steel and woven in Como, Italy—and spectacular goat hair coats inspired by Marlene Dietrich's swansdown jacket. Dietrich served as the muse, admired for her arc from sexual provocateur to wartime hero during USO tours in Algeria and Europe, and later steely cabaret performer.
Other highlights featured floor-length leather gowns, kinetic fringed designs, leather vests under clasped capes, woven knits exposing bare chests, and sequined Kiss boots. Monstrous furs in striking hues and draped, knotted fabrics added to the dystopian edge, enhanced by half-shaved haircuts, shaggy wigs, and millipede eyelashes in black or pink by collaborator Figa Link (Bernardo Martins). Owens, entering his cabaret era, sought punk-like energy, saying, “There’s been punk rock, there’s been glitter rock, there’s exaggeration, there are clothes that reject the status quo by creating something grotesque or mocking it. I just missed that kind of energy.” The show opened in a smoke-filled underground chamber, amplifying its ominous atmosphere.
Materials like marbled felt from Himalayan wool, made in Rajasthan, underscored Owens's avant-garde commitment, with towering coats from long-haired goat hide standing out in a season of oversized outerwear.