TANK TOP by MACALO, BRA by RELIGARE, JEANS by ACNE STUDIOS (left)
OVERCOAT by THOM BROWNE, DRESS by MACALO (right)
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TANK TOP by MACALO, BRA by RELIGARE, JEANS by ACNE STUDIOS (left)
OVERCOAT by THOM BROWNE, DRESS by MACALO (right)
BLAZER and OVERCOAT by THOM BROWNE, SKIRT by STAUD, SHOES stylist's own (left)
TANK TOP by MACALO, BRA by RELIGARE, JEANS by ACNE STUDIOS (right)
TOP and DRESS by MILAGROS PEREDA (left)
DRESS sculpted out of HANES TANK TOPS, FLATS by CAMPER (right)
The inflated contours of the sole seamlessly complement the explosive design of the 1460 DMXL Megalace boot, offering a synergy of form and function. We caught up with Owens to delve deeper into the inspiration behind the latest drop.
You mention celebrating "raw and ferocious self-invented abandon, like that of Sissy Misfit blasting techno with Trans power.” How does this concept manifest in the design of the new capsule collection?
EVERY CREATIVE GESTURE IS A COMPOSITION OF CODES AND ASSOCIATIONS AND HOW IT IS PRESENTED. THIS IS JUST A SHOE. BUT IT'S A SHOE BRAND WITH A CERTAIN QUALITY, SOMEHOW EMBRACED BY UNDERGROUND SUBCULTURE FOR A LONG TIME AND ENDORSED BY A SLEAZY DESIGNER WITH A PISSDRINKING HISTORY WHO USES IT AS AN EXCUSE TO ROPE IN A TECHNOTRANS JAGUAR TO CORRUPT THE WORLD.
This is the third collaboration with Dr. Martens, and you are the first partner to incorporating the 14XX DMXL sole. What does that mean to you?
14XX MEANS GOING BIGGER, HARDER, AND LOUDER.
What inspired the design of the 1460 DMXL Megalace boot, particularly the choice of the new DMXL sole and the exaggerated contours of the inflated sole?
I WANTED TO DANCE NAKED IN THE WOODS AT MIDNIGHT TO SISSY MISFIT.
Dr. Martens x Rick Owens drops 8th February 2024 at drmartens.com, rickowens.eu and select partners.
Crafting the CRUDA Cecilia shoe
CRUDA’s shoes (and now handbags) are crafted quite literally with intention, sourced almost entirely from repurposed materials. “Everything I do is guided by a desire to transform what already exists, to give life to something previously disgraced, to decontextualize what for some was ‘garbage’,” shares the designer.
Pamela in her workshop
And “upcycling” isn’t always a sexy word, but for Pamela, it’s a thing of beauty; in her pieces, raw and rough material is given new life. Old leather, wood from demolished buildings, and thrown away furniture are transformed by hand into towering platform boots or slingback heels adorned with oversized bows.
The CRUDA Carmen Boot
“Cruda” begins to mean something particular upon the recounting of Pamela’s story. Not raw as in “unfinished”, or raw as in “rough”, but raw as in “pure”: a lack of cover or divide between process and final form. Process is the uniting theme throughout the designer’s work, which originally began with a career as an artist. “I had a real crisis when I turned 30,” she confesses. Having finished a residency with the ministry of foreign affairs of Mexico, she returned to Costa Rica — “and things went from being ideal to being less than ideal.”
“I found myself with no home, no money, without direction and with the realization that my work as an artist was still very young, and there was no real prospect that it could provide the financial stability I needed. I really hit a low point … [and I made] a list of things I thought could really make me happy.”
On that list? “Making shoes.” An ambitious project for someone who, up until that point, had spent nearly the past decade making video and installation art and working for a furniture brand. “I began traveling on my time off, during weekends mostly, to Masaya, Nicaragua. There I visited many workshops and learned from masters of wood and leather about the craft of shoemaking.”
“The first shoes I made were there, and that was the beginning of CRUDA.”
Today, CRUDA is becoming a household name in Mexico City and beyond.The brand’s shoes balance self-awareness with anachronism, incorporating details that speak to the zeitgeist while dodging the pigeonhole of trend. For Pamela, process and materiality go hand-in-hand: “My processes always resemble each other: I make little models out of clay or plasticine and go from there. In a sense I don’t control the design so much: the materials themselves determine how a shoe, a bag, chair (or whatever) will turn out. I start with an idea and then confirm with the materials whether or not it’s possible.”
This sensibility allows the brand to seamlessly incorporate sustainability into pieces that feel relevant and new: the Samuel bag is crafted from airplane tire rubber, while the Montero shoe combines a sportiness reminiscent of the ubiquitous Samba with a dress shoe sole, made with recycled materials from top to bottom.
The Montero Shoe and Samuel Bag
“What inspires me is my surroundings: the people life has placed in my path, my coming and going from here to there, individuals in my immediate world who create, exhibit, move, open and close things,” shares Pamela. “I am inspired by what is close to me, what is near me because we coexist in the same space.”
Pamela and her team
Examining the playfulness of the brand’s shoes and bags, it’s easy to see how clothing might be the natural next step. While that’s not off the table, Pamela remains open to all. “In a way I want to return to some of my past practices, like my artistic practice. Also, in the last year, I have been returning to making furniture — for example with a project of chairs that I have produced, using materials like clay and canvas. I plan to continue on that path and see where it takes me. [With] CRUDA specifically, I am in the process of producing a collection of clothing… which hopefully you will see soon.”
For CRUDA, the future's open wide, but the center of it all remains the process itself. “My process remains identical. And honestly, that makes me happy. I have grown in other ways, but I remain true to my process.”
“It’s a process where there is no order, no technical or academic design planning. It has entirely to do with how things feel, and how we flow — it’s very much a product of my surroundings, the people I meet, the places I go.”