Discover the Story Behind This Iconic Rick Owens Bench

For more than a decade, fashion designer Rick Owens and his wife – Slash – creative partner, Michele Lamy, have been making furniture – first for themselves, then in limited editions for sale – recently in a workshop in Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry, about a 45-minute drive from their home In Paris.

Showing off his funky runway, Owens admits, “I don’t stick to very relaxed aesthetics.”
It may contain a one-leg, one-sleeve cashmere jumpsuit or a live-human suit, worn as a backpack.
“I like something strict and unemotional.” But when in 2013 they designed what Owens calls a “wild Bauhaus retriever,” the inspiration came from an old adage that’s more trivial than usual: “A lady never stands when she can sit down and never sits down when she can lean back.”

The bon mot (which Owens thinks was pronounced Mae West) has spawned a perch with a decidedly delightful name: the double bubble. The seat, envisioned by Owens and realized by Lamy (that’s how it works), is capsule-shaped on the feet with a hole in the middle, first in plywood and then in concrete, black plywood, and alabaster. Owens’ antidote to strict form? “I throw in mattresses, sheets, and pillows freely.”

Owens’ furnishings have gained prominence in parallel with his clothing. (It’s a simple but tricky recipe to do well, says the designer, like a haiku or ikebana.” AD100 designer Julie Hellmann, who commissioned the bench for clients in wood and alabaster, says, “It’s like carving, but it’s also useful in a room. I love floating it.” So anyone can sit facing either direction.” Meanwhile, Kathleen and Tommy Clements of Clements Design (also AD 100) praise its versatility. Tommy explains, “He works in a formal living room, topped by Picasso, or as a mentor in The middle of a wardrobe.” Case in point: A Los Angeles dressing room filled with Adam Levine sneakers. carpentersworkshopgallery.com