Rick Owens, the Original Jeffrey Sebelia?

Scenes from Rick Owens's Spring 2007 collection. (Photos by First Look.) Last night’s National Design Awards were a shocker, at least in the fashion category: Rick Owens beat out both Narciso Rodriguez and Phillip Lim for the ten-year-old honor bestowed by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. (More photos after...

By Amy Haimerl

May 17, 2007

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Scenes from Rick Owens's Spring 2007 collection. (Photos by First Look.)

Last night’s National Design Awards were a shocker, at least in the fashion category: Rick Owens beat out both Narciso Rodriguez and Phillip Lim for the ten-year-old honor bestowed by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

(More photos after the jump.)

Owens is sort of a pre-Project Runway Jeffrey Sebelia. He’s from L.A., has the dark edge, designed for rock stars, etc., etc. Actually, come to think of it, Jeffrey Sebelia may have modeled his entire persona on Owens. (New York Magazine has a great profile of what the boy wonder is up to post-PR; note, he’s broke.) In 2003 Owens left L.A. for the lights of Paris, where he found his groove and was the artistic director of French fur house Revillon until last year.

Here’s what the judges had to say about Owens:

Using a minimalist palette to accentuate his sculptural designs, Owens’ edgy design sensibility brings a raw, modern elegance to women’s fashion. Infused with a sense of drama, his work has been noted for its masterful use of draping and asymmetrical cut. Owens’ approach to design, while inspired by the workmanship of couture, retains a consciously unfinished quality.

Spring 2007 collection slideshow. (via New York)

Fall 2007 collection slideshow. (via New York)

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