OWENS GOES ITALIAN
LOS ANGELES — Designer Rick Owens said he’s preparing to broaden his glamorously deconstructed line with a recent deal signed with Bologna-based Eo Bocci Associates, the sales agent and talent scout whose lines include Ann Demeulemeester and Olivier Theyskens.
“It’s like a partnership, because Bocci works with developing the brand, with distribution and press,” Owens, who leaves for Italy this week, told WWD. The streetwise agent also organizes manufacturing and set up Owens’s production with Olmar, an outfit in Concordia, outside of Bologna. As part of the six-year-old brand’s new phase, the designer will show in New York at the Cynthia Broan Gallery, Sept. 10-12, and in Paris (dates and location yet to be determined). To date, the designer with the cult-like following has limited distribution of his “drippy” dresses with unfinished hems — to private clients and to 10 doors internationally, including Jeffrey in New York and Maxfield in Los Angeles.