Arbitrage NYC Rick Owens Archive Collection
- Words Jackson Ray
- Date July 21, 2017
Today, Arbitrage NYC has teamed up with Fashion Moves Forward to bring you some of the most slept on archival pieces from the Rick Owens DRKSHDW line, as well as his eponymous label. With Arbitrage NYC—an online boutique that specializes in the curation of capsule collections from brands like Helmut Lang and Dolce & Gabbana—working with Fashion Moves Forward—an online menswear blog dedicated to fashion photography, style advice and archive fashion—working together, you can expect some of the rarest and soon to be sought after pieces from Rick Owens' extensive archive.
The pair's collection primarily focuses on the printed DRKSHDW tees ranging from S/S 2006 up to 2010. The fascination was sparked by the vintage treated cotton fabrics and the eerie & dark graphic choices imprinted onto each tee. Some of our favorite qualities about these t-shirts are the personal references Rick chose each season. A/W 2007 featured a variety of “Wagner” tees, which all reference different musical arrangements composed by Richard Wagner such as No. 5 (Traume) & No. 4 (Schmerzen). The A/W 2008 tees featured Kembra Pfahler, one of Rick’s favorite artist, & her band “ The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black (TVHOKB for short).” Other key graphics include the pentagram tees, the gradient tees, and the obscure patched tees—all of which are believed to be Japan-exclusives.
In addition to the 28 graphic tees available in the collection, we have also added some other iconic pieces throughout Rick’s career, including the original Exploder bomber jacket from 2007, the first edition of the “Creatch” cargos from 2008, and even a bullet proof vest from A/W 2014's “Moody” collection.
While there's plenty of impressive pieces within this curated collection, our favorite piece has to be the “Blowjob” tee from S/S 2007, a depiction of Rick blowing his brains out while sitting at a table with another woman. The graphic is grotesque, dark and one of Owens' most thought-provoking and bizarrely abstract items. The signature vintage pearl coloring with the beautifully aged graphic adds even more to the quality & design of the shirt. Be sure to shop it, as well as the rest of our Rick Owens archive collection below.
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