Rick Owens on Longevity, Veneers, and Dental Offices

What does Rick Owens’s breath smell like? How does he brush his teeth? Luckily for the curious, the designer answered these questions with his first-ever collaboration with the Swedish oral care brand Selahatin. After Owens talked about his love for bone toothbrushes and the brand’s toothpaste in a GQ interview, the two partnered for an official collection.

Selahatin x Rick Owens features a bull-horn toothbrush with boar bristles, along with a “mouth spray,” toothpaste, and mouthwash in a “monochrome” flavor inspired by Owens himself. Notes such as Madagascar vanilla, Sichuan pepper, and rosemary impart a “clean, metallic afterglow,” the brand says on its site.

In honor of the new launch, ELLE gave Owens and Kristoffer Vural, founder of Selahatin, a mini questionnaire to talk about dentists, wellness, and electric toothbrushes.

How do you feel about the term longevity? Do you roll your eyes about it? Or do you see it as a necessity?

Rick Owens: I never think about it—I feel lucky enough to have made it this far.

Kristoffer Vural: I don’t think about longevity. I think about relevance. And impact.

How do you define wellness?

RO: Wellness just feels like doing the best with what you’ve got.

KV: Wellness passes through me. I don’t have a relationship with it.

What are your thoughts on veneers? Do you like them? Would you get them?

RO: I actually have veneers on my two front teeth and just did them to tidy my mouth.

KV: I’m agnostic about veneers as long as it doesn’t look like you’ve bleached your teeth one shade too far—that triggers my contemporary allergy.

Have you ever considered getting an electric toothbrush?

RO: I just don’t need another cord, and a toothbrush seems easier and simpler to travel with.

KV: No. I don’t want another device to charge. They also flatten the experience. With a manual brush, you feel the texture and the resistance. The aroma has more presence.

Do you chase the idea of “perfection” in teeth?

RO: I think goodteeth framed by a big, genuine smile are one of the most appealing things anyone can have. I am very grateful to my parents for getting me braces and looking after my teeth carefully when I was young.

KV: Perfect teeth are only interesting as pastiche. As a creative, I’m more drawn to tension—to making something unexpected feel precise. Too much perfection, too much smoothness, and it quickly loses its nerve.

It’s been said that you consider your brand, Rick Owens, to be for the “freaks.” How does it make you feel when you see things that were once considered freaky becoming mainstream?

RO: My brand celebrates freaks but doesn’t exclude others. There is room for everyone.

Are teeth freaky or goth?

RO: I think of teeth as a great health signifier.

Would you ever try tooth gems, like Michèle?

RO: No—she’s the exotic one.

How do you feel about your dentist? Do you find dental offices to be aesthetically disappointing?

RO: I love mine, in a beautiful hôtel particulier with a screen showing nature shows on the ceiling to watch while I am reclined during teeth cleanings.

KV: Yes. There’s a shift toward form and aesthetics, but it’s still tentative. Most spaces feel functional and not considered.

In this collaboration, you mention wanting the scent to smell “monochrome.” Why?

KV: Both our worlds already speak that language—disciplined, refined, slightly severe—so it became a natural point of convergence. We kept shaping it until it felt like Rick: Sharp lines, quiet tension, and opposites held just enough to stay intact. It’s his universe, but unmistakably Selahatin.

A monochrome taste is a single idea, pushed with precision. It’s about refining one sensation until it becomes a whole atmosphere. The contrast is internal—heat against cold, sharp against clean, but they move as one line.

In the process of creating the flavor and scent, Rick said, “Go harder.” How did you interpret that?

KV: Rick didn’t mean louder. He meant more resistance and bite. He lives in extremes—nicotine, bitterness, and dryness. Anything polite disappears there. So “go harder” was about pushing the flavor until it could stand in that environment. I took that literally. I tried to enter his conditions. I smoked. I drank coffee and gin—just like he does. I wore my Rick pieces for atmosphere. Then I adjusted the flavor inside that space, so that it was less decoration, more edge, more tension between cold and heat, and sharp and clean.

What type of feelings do you hope this collaboration evokes?

RO: Satisfaction.

KV: Clarity—like something that makes you more aware of yourself.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.