Rick Owens turns the mythical legend of El Dorado into an underground showcase that took over the brutalism architecture of Palais de Tokyo’s basement.

The American designer’s fascination with primitive arts and cultures inspired the Aztec / Inca feel of his latest womenswear Autumn/Winter 2015-2016 collection. Like industrial Mexican goddesses, the models walked around the museum’s concrete jungle wrapped in floor-length priestess robes with their faces covered by golden and silver paint. Half way in between futuristic body armours and statuesque totems, the outfits caught the eye for their lyrical elegance. Precious studs and sequins embellished the sci-fi designs giving to the traditional tribal costumes’ embroidery a rough heavy-metal appeal. The bare bones setting highlighted even more Owens‘s monumental play with shape, proportion and texture, translated into twisted and folded dresses that enveloped the body in asymmetrical cocoons. Control, beauty, discipline and drama were over-glamorised to express new assets of Rick Owens‘s savagely minimal aesthetic.