This luxurious large-format book documents the work of the American designer Rick Owens, a transformational figure in contemporary fashion. Defiantly ant fashion, Rick Owens’s honest and intensely personal approach to craft has ironically produced some of the most sublime fashion of the last two decades, propelling him to the front ranks of the international avant-garde.

Established in 1994, Owens’s subversive designs have now become some of the most critically admired in the Paris collections. Distinguished by an aesthetic that the designer has himself described as “grunge meets glamour,” this gritty elegance-tempered by a remarkable restraint-has won him a fanatical international following, with admirers ranging from Kate Moss to Courtney Love to Terence Koh.

Debuting in New York in 2002 and relocating to Paris the following year, Owens cultivates an elusive appeal-without any express advertising-that has developed into something like an empire. Designed by Owens himself, this volume is full of monumental images detailing all aspects of the designer’s work and sensibility. The visual narrative of this book provides an instructive look at the process of design from an artist who is at once comfortable with innovation and respectful of traditional approaches.