The front row at a fashion show can speak volumes. For a talent seeking immediate media – and social media – buzz, a top celebrity or reality starlet usually does the trick. For the more thoughtful designer, the curation of front row faces can speak volumes about the collection. On Thursday evening, CFDA Member Rick Owens made the latter point with three inspiring forces at his show: Claude Montana, Donna Karan and Iris Apfel.

Montana, one of the most influential Paris designers in the 1980s, is a perennial fashion reference and is once again having something of a fashion moment (see the fall collections of Gareth Pugh and Olivier Rousteing at Balmain, for example). Karan is in Paris to show Urban Zen, which is subtly kindred in spirit to Owens and the cool tribe he addresses.

Apfel, the nonagenarian style icon whose image is plastered on ads across Paris, took it all in in awe.

As for the “Mastodon”-themed fall-winter collection, it was another expression of Owens’ immense talent marked by sculptural draping, layering and tweaking. Karan, who famously failed in draping at Parsons, called the show “the future of fashion and the arts” – “What an amazing experience to watch a designer’s true sculpture expression. Congratulations for sharing your passion for the body and the art of sculpture.”