Rick Owens Bauhaus Stooges Jacket

The finish is applied last, which is the whole story of this jacket. Most garment leather is dyed in the drum, so the colour goes through the hide and stays where it is put. This is finished by tamponatura instead: after tanning, the colour and the wax are worked into the surface by hand, in southern Italy, which means the pigment sits on top of the grain rather than inside it. The consequence is not decorative. It is that the jacket will lighten at the elbows, along the front edges, and across the shoulders, in the pattern of how a particular person wears it, and it will not do that on a schedule anyone can predict.

Underneath the finish is a biker jacket built past the point of restraint. Double-breasted front with an off-centre zip, a wide collar and lapel held with snaps, a rounded zipped pocket on the left body with a flap pocket beside it, further zips at the side front, the side back, the left breast, and the left forearm, and snap epaulettes at the shoulder. It sits just above the hip. From two feet away it is a black leather jacket. From two inches away it is a drawing of one.

Why we selected it

We wanted the version of this house’s leather that will not look the same in five years, and this is it. A hand-finished surface is a decision to hand the customer an unfinished object and let them complete it, which is a genuinely uncommon thing to sell. It is also the piece we reach for when someone asks what the Hollywood collection actually meant, since the answer is not a silhouette but a way of treating a hide.

Leather is the material Rick Owens is measured on, and the hand-applied finishes are where the house does its least reproducible work.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent calf leather, made in Italy, in black, with a matte finish. Double-breasted biker front with an off-centre zip, wide collar and lapel with snap fastenings, a rounded zipped pocket at the left body with an additional flap pocket, zipped pockets at the side front, side back, left breast, and left forearm, and snap epaulettes. Falls just above the hip. From the Hollywood collection.

Fit notes

Cut close and slim, which is what a double-breasted biker front requires; a loose one has nothing to close against. It sits above the hip, so it reads shorter on the body than the pocket count suggests. Calf is firmer than lamb and will feel structured at first, softening at the elbow and across the back over a season. Layer it over a tee or a fine knit rather than over a sweater. We do not hold measurements for it, and would rather you tried it or called us.

Styling

Over black, and over as little as possible, because the surface is the only thing that should be competing for attention. Over a plain milk tee if you want the contrast at the neck. Under a long coat in winter, where it has no shoulder bulk to fight.

Care

Leather does not get washed and does not go near direct heat, which includes a radiator, a car dashboard, and the inside of a plastic garment bag. A hand-finished surface additionally does not want solvents or a conventional dry cleaner, since the wax is on the outside of the grain and can be taken off it. Hang it broad, let it air between wearings, and take it to a leather specialist who is told how it is finished. We would rather talk conditioning through with you than publish a schedule. Our care guidance covers leather in more detail.

Related pieces

The same jacket cut short in horse leather is the Cropped Jumbo Bauhaus Stooges. In lamb rather than calf, the Giacca Classic Biker Jacket, and without the zips, the Brad Jacket. Underneath it, the Basic SS T. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.