Why is Rick Owens so expensive? The brand's price, not hype

On 24 September 2026, someone on X said an $800 black Rick Owens T-shirt was not worth it when an $80 one is. Fair point. Rick Owens' own black Level T costs less: CAD 455 in Canada, USD 380 in the US.

So most of the number is not hype. The brand sets it, and resale adds money only where the brand has run out of your size; worn pieces go the other way. Every piece we list, and its shop, is on Rick Owens in Canada.

Quick facts

• Geobasket: CAD 1,615 in Canada, USD 1,325 in the US, 2 of 17 sizes left
• Level T: CAD 455 in black cotton, CAD 395 from DRKSHDW, CAD 585 in viscose and silk
• Duties: included in the brand's US prices except in 12 states; not included on orders to Canada
• Own stores: 13, none in Canada
• On within: 37 Rick Owens pieces at one shop, $400 to $1,800, median $1,000; every price and count here read 9 October 2026

For the shoe buyer, where the sizes run out

Owens first showed his sneaker in Moog FW05, with an exaggerated tongue and a zip on the inside. He called it "monster trucks" for your feet. Its likeness to Nike's shoe got it a nickname, the Dunk.

It was finished in Dustulator FW06. By Owens's account, Nike sent him a cease and desist letter, and the original stayed on sale as late as 2010. The Geobasket, with its geometric panels, replaced it.

On the FW26 Tower Geobasket, the zip sits on the inside ankle and the shark toothed bumper sole is thermoplastic rubber. Its full grain calf is "specifically tanned for shoes", from a tannery LWG certified with a bronze rating. Two sizes were left, EU 42 and 48.

At Utopia, a resale shop in Toronto, the Tower Jumbolaced Sneakers in Black/Milk ask $1,800, the top of the price range on its 22 Rick Owens sneakers. They come in four sizes and share the name, the season and the colours with the brand's CAD 1,650 Tower Jumbolace Sneaks. Pay the extra CAD 150 only if your size is gone from the brand, which had 7 of 17.

For the black T-shirt, the brand has your size

For CAD 455, the black Level T has level shoulder seams, a single seam down the centre back and GOTS certified organic cotton. DRKSHDW, the line of basic garments that replaced SLAB in 2005, does a garment dyed one for CAD 395. (If you want long sleeves, the shop has a lightly used DRKSHDW Level Oversized long sleeve T-shirt in cream for $400.)

Switch to viscose and silk and the Forever Level T is CAD 585. Its page says the making, "from the material knitting to sewing and finishing", happened "close to our home base in Concordia, Italy". The brand's shoe and pant pages name no country.

All three had most sizes in stock: 5 of 6 in classic cotton, all six sizes in DRKSHDW, and 4 of 6 in viscose and silk. Nobody needs a reseller for that. Next to the post's $800, the priciest of the three is CAD 585.

For the second owner, a decade of Mastodon cargos

Mastodon is a cargo name the brand used in FW16 and again in FW26. The new one, the Tower Mastodon Cargo in heavy poplin, costs CAD 1,420, with 6 of 7 sizes left. At the shop, $500 buys a pre owned pair of FW16 Mastodon Drawstring Cargo Pants, Italian size 46, which fits a small.

Same name, ten years apart, CAD 920 less. That is one pair, not a rule. Across pre owned Rick Owens, the 15 graded pieces ask a median $750, against $1,000 for all 37.

Top of that range: a pink pony hair Geobasket, US men's 13, at $1,400. The cheapest pair, a Milk Hollywood Jumbolaced Low at $650, is sold "as is". Every grade is the shop's own and every sale is final, so ask for photos of the wear first.

The T-shirt waits for you. The Geobasket, in your size, does not.

For the label, one designer and his own company

Rick Owens got noticed after Kate Moss was photographed for Vogue Paris in one of his leather jackets. Vogue America then sponsored his first runway show, Sparrows FW02, and the CFDA gave him its Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent in 2002. Not bad for a line launched in 1994 out of a store on Hollywood Boulevard.

He moved to Paris with Michèle Lamy in 2003, and his shows have been there since. Owenscorp, the company he and Lamy founded, dates from 2004. WWD, in a 2017 interview, reported that the label brought in $120 million the year before, and Owens said it planned to stay independent from corporate investment.

The collaborations came after that: Birkenstock in 2018, Veja in 2019, Moncler and Champion in 2020, Dr. Martens and Converse in 2021. The Palais Galliera in Paris held his retrospective, "Temple of Love", in 2025. The label still sells through 13 stores of its own, from the Jardins du Palais Royal in Paris to 30 Howard Street in New York, none in Canada.

Online, the seller is Owenscorp Italia in Turin, and every order is processed in euros. Prices shown in your currency are estimates, set at a rate fixed at the start of each season, and you are charged at the day's rate. The brand's US store asks USD 1,325 for the same Geobasket, about CAD 1,891.

Before you pay

The brand covers duties and taxes for buyers in the EU, the UK, the US, Switzerland, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. A Canadian order from the brand may meet customs fees and taxes at the door, which are the buyer's to pay. In 12 US states, New York and California among them, buyers pay state custom charges and import duties on top.

On the brand's chart, EU 44 sits beside UK 10 and US 11. Read Rick Owens sizing first, and duty on clothes into Canada before you order from the brand.

Utopia is at 132 Cumberland Street in Toronto, and its site says it is open noon to 8pm, seven days. It ships to the US and worldwide, free across Canada and the US over $300, in 7 to 10 business days abroad. A Canadian who buys there pays no import duty.

There are no returns or exchanges, so ask for measurements first. In its own words, the shop is "Always & Only 100% Authentic".

Common questions

How much does real Rick Owens cost?

From the brand, the pieces in this note run CAD 395 for a DRKSHDW Level T to CAD 1,650 for a leather Jumbolace. Rick Owens prices lists the resale shop's 37 pieces, $400 to $1,800, median $1,000.

What's so special about Rick Owens' shoes?

Their story and their leather: the Geobasket replaced the Dunk, and its calf is "specifically tanned for shoes". It zips at the inside ankle and sits on a shark toothed sole. Only two sizes out of 17 were in stock.

Is Rick Owens considered luxury?

Yes: Paris runways since 2003, CFDA awards in 2002, 2017 and 2019, and 13 stores of its own. Check any label's own price before you blame the hype.

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