There are collaborations that feel predictable and then there are the ones that make you stop mid-scroll, espresso still in hand, wondering how no one thought of it sooner. Selahatin and Rick Owens launching a toothpaste together sits firmly in the second category.
It shouldn’t work. That is exactly why it does.
Rick Owens has always treated objects as extensions of a universe rather than accessories to it. Everything he touches carries the same architectural weight and monolithic calm, from furniture to fashion to fragrance. Toothpaste sounds like a strange addition until you realise how much of his world is built on ritual.
Light the candle. Pull the leather coat over your shoulders. Step into the shadows. Brush your teeth. The sequence is almost poetic.
Selahatin understands ritual just as intimately. Their entire brand is rooted in the idea that self-care can be cinematic, that the smallest moments of the day can hold a sense of ceremony when given the right level of intention. Founder Kristoffer Vural has always spoken about oral care as a design object, not a commodity. In that way, Rick Owens was the only collaborator who made sense.
The product is exactly what you would expect if you know either name. Dark. Minimal. Sculptural. A tube that feels like it belongs on a concrete plinth rather than the corner of a bathroom shelf.
The flavour profile is moody and mineral with just enough sharpness to remind you that luxury can be sensory, not only visual.
There's no attempt to make the collaboration quirky or ironic. No try-hard humour. Instead the campaign embraces shadow, texture, silhouette. It treats toothpaste with the same seriousness some brands reserve for jewellery. Which, in its own way, is the joke. It is earnest by design and that is what makes it land.
For creatives, this collaboration is a reminder that categories are irrelevant.
The real canvas is meaning. If a brand can articulate a world with enough clarity, it can pull any object into that orbit. It can make a daily habit feel like an aesthetic gesture.
Rick Owens found a new canvas. Selahatin handed him the brush. And your bathroom just became part of the story.
Shot of the good stuff.
