Rick Owens brand reputation audit and “Kill Angela Merkel Crisis”. James Tustin, TUS14411368 Fashion and Public Relations Yr2
Rick Owens universally known for being a designer who operates outside of the conventional sector of the industry, famed for his avant-garde approach to not only his garments but also the way in which they are presented. On The 24th June 2015 during the Rick Owens menswear catwalk show, a model walking the runway produced a cloth with the words “Please kill Angela Merkel Not”. The story was quickly picked up by a number of international news outlets that reported on the events and speculated on the motives behind them. The Rick Owens brand has not been free from controversy in recent years much it centring around nudity and always under the guidance of the man himself. In 2013, the brand worked with Paul Kookier on a lookbook that featured accessories alongside nude women in compromising poses, the book was not produced for sale to the wider market and was instead given as a gift to customers (Zoetendaal, 2013). Most notably in his Autumn / Winter 2015 show entitled ‘SPHINX’ male models walked the runway wearing garments that exposed their penises. The collection gained the brand a great amount fashion and mainstream press attention, to which Rick responded, “Nudity is the most simple and primal gesture” (Owens 2015).
The model, Jera Diarc was Rick’s long time muse and considered part of the Rick Owens family and Angus Munro the brand’s casting director described the incident as an “abject disappointment” (Salter, 2015). Nor the press or the designer himself knew the true intentions of Jera or the exact meaning of the statement and Jera Diarc has never spoken publically about what inspired his public exhibitionism. The designer’s reaction could be described as hot headed and reactionary after the event. Immediately after the event in a backstage statement to Women’s Wear Daily, Rick responded saying, “It’s a crazy, rogue, fucking model that I punched when he came back out” then emphasizing that he wanted the publisher to report “that I punched him” (Szmydke, 2015). It is reasonable to suggest that Rick Owens’ initial reaction did not involve discourse with the brand’s communications team. Rick Owens is very much the face of his brand and his statements both verbal and visual have informed how both customers and press consider him as man and designer. Speaking some time after the event he explained his intense reaction to the protest “Hey, this is my spotlight, and you fucked it up”(Owens, 2015). In most situations Public Relations professionals would advise their clients not to portray an image of violence or use strong language in statements to press. However a Rick Owens show is not a normal situation and Rick Owens is not considered a normal designer and such statements helped to enhance his identity as a laid-back, free thinking, provocative figure, something that provides a certain allure to his dark brand. If a designer from one of Paris’ storied couture houses made a similar statement with would be reasonable to suggest a more outraged reaction but Rick Owens is keen to point out that the messages he puts into the public sphere are not to be taken seriously, “Most people take my clothes more seriously than I do” (Owens, 2014). The designer’s laid back and often provocative nature appears to offer him a sense of impunity in the eyes of the press with no criticism published about his extreme reaction to the scandal. Similarly in many post show interviews Rick Owens, although not justifying his model’s action does go someway to discussing the issue in a somewhat open way “It’s about the idea of male aggression – whenever I think about men’s collections I always think about the idea of aggression because it’s just part of a man’s DNA and it’s something that I struggle with and I think other men do too,” (Owens, 2015). This statement does go some way to showing a more thoughtful public statement, and also provides a more professional persona in the public sphere.
Shortly after Women’s Wear Daily published Rick’s initial statement his press office released a statement: “Rick Owens does not claim responsibility for the act of protest by a model at the Spring Summer 2016 show. This was an independent statement and does not reflect the opinion of the house of Rick Owens.” Unlike initial reports this statement is more conventional and what is usually expected from designers after scandals. The statement further reiterates the designer’s desire to distance his brand from the model’s statement and gave the press and public an unequivocal assurance that the brand did not have any involvement in political protests. This statement appeared to be effective as there was no speculation or suggestion that this was statement made by the brand or the designer, himself. This press statement did not, however address the report that Rick Owens physically assaulted Jera Diarc, nor did it address whether any other action had been taken by the brand. When Rick Owens’ press representatives released their press statement they also requested that images of the protest be blurred or deleted (Rhodan, 2015). This was unsuccessful and the images of Jera Diarc displaying his banner were shown in all industry and non-industry publications. As a strategy it was a reasonable strategy by Owens’ public relations team, as it would clearly show that this message was not associated with the Rick Owens brand. Nevertheless many of the news outlets reported that “Owens’ camp has unsuccessfully asked that images of the protest be blurred or deleted” (Rhodan, 2015), so this was a success in some way as is it clearly expressed the brand’s position in opposing both the sentiment of Diarc’s protest and the its existence. Although the later press statement were released by the Rick Owens brand they were not effective in quashing the initial reaction by the designer himself. Most of the journalists who reported on the crisis did include Rick’s initial quotes from Women’s Wear Daily, and many of which focused on his statement that “I punched him when he came off stage” (Akbareian 2015). This emphasizes that a company’s initial statement will always be what people report, which to lead to a reasonable assumption that it will be what people remember. The crisis although somewhat contained did provide a lot of exposure to the Rick Owens Spring / Summer 2015 fashion show, however not for the intended reasons of the designer. Although in previous season’s the likes of Dazed Digital have carried out show reports of Rick Owens’ shows, the Spring / Summer 2016 show report was overshadowed by this protest. The Guardian even stated, “unfortunately for him, an ill-phrased stunt threatens to steal its thunder,” (Cochrane, 2015) and later went on to devote only one sentence in review of the menswear show.
Even though Rick Owens’ initial statements to reporters were unprepared and reactionary, they were successful at sharing the brand’s key message that this protest should not be associated with the Rick Owens brand. In future it is important for designers like Rick Owens to have some level of press training, especially with regards to crisis, as a more formal and reasoned response could have provided a more favorable reflection of the brand and the man himself. However, whilst Rick Owens’ initial reaction was somewhat haphazard the brands control of the issue and quick reaction to it has, helped to sustain the reputation of the Rick Owens house. As such the initial statement’s made by the brand along with later reflections on the crisis made in interviews have successfully quashed what could have been a great threat to the Rick Owens’ brand.
Refernces:
Zoetendaal, Willem, Van, March 2013: http://www.vanzoetendaal.com/ books/rick-owens-paul-kooiker-collaborate-on-limited-art-edition-book/ (Accessed November 15th 2015) Owens, Rick, Interviewed by Lau, Susie, Dazed Digital, January 2015: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/23285/1/rick-owens-aw15-livestream (Accessed November 15th 2015) Munro, Angus, Interviewed by Salter, Steve, June 2015: https://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/why-rick-owens-male-muse-went-rogue (Accessed November 18th 2015) Szmydke, Paulina, Womens Wear Daily, June 25th 2015: http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/rick-owens-model-angela-merkel-10167458/ (Accessed November 18th 2015) Owens, Rick, Interviewed by Heyman, Stephen, Surface Magazine: http://www.surfacemag.com/rick-owens (Accessed November 18th 2015) Owens, Rick, Interviewed by Leitch, Luke, Telegraph, August 27th 2014: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG11056267/Rick-OwensMost-people-take-my-clothes-more-seriously-than-I-do.html (Accessed November 18th 2015) Owens, Rick, Interviewed by Allwood, Hope, Emma, Dazed Digital, June 25th 2015: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/25241/1/model-at-rick-owens-holds-kill-angela-merkel-banner (Accessed 21st November 2015) Rhodan, Maya, Time Magazine, June 25th 2015: http://time.com/3936203/model-rick-owens-paris-fashion-show-protest/ (Accessed 21st November 2015) Akbareian, Emma, Independent, 25th June 2015: http://www.independent. co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/rogue-model-stages-please-kill-angela-merkelprotest-at-rick-owens-paris-fashion-week-show-10345376.html (Accessed 21st November 2015) Cochrane, Lauren, the Guardian, 25th June 2015: http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/jun/25/protest-jera-rick-owensshow-kill-angela-merkel-not (Accessed 21st November 2015)