Rick Owens Bustier Top

The composition is the design brief. Ninety-one percent cotton, six percent elastomultiester, three percent rubber: that last figure is what makes this a coated denim rather than a stretch one. Rubber in a woven produces a surface treatment, a faint sheen and a slight tack to the hand, and it stiffens the cloth in a way elastane on its own never does. So the fabric can stretch enough to be worn as a bustier and still hold a shape that a soft denim would collapse out of, and the finish reads as light on a traditionally matte cloth.

A bustier is a structural garment by definition. It has no straps, so it stays up on tension and pattern alone, which means the cloth has to be strong across the grain and unwilling to relax. Denim is a very old answer to that problem given a modern coating, and this is why the top is a straight-across neckline and a back zip and nothing else: any additional seaming would take structure away from where it is needed. From the Hollywood collection.

Why we selected it

Strapless is the single hardest thing to make wearable and the easiest to make badly, and almost every version depends on boning or on hoping. This one depends on the cloth, which is the better engineering. It is also the rare piece from this house that gets worn in a Santa Fe July.

The house’s Hollywood collection worked repeatedly with coated and treated cottons, and this is the most structural use of one in the range.

Materials and construction

Body ninety-one percent cotton, six percent elastomultiester, and three percent rubber; lining eighty-four percent polyamide and sixteen percent elastane. Made in Italy, in black. Coated stretch denim with a structured fit, a straight neckline, and a zip closure at the back.

Fit notes

Strapless, so the fit at the ribcage is the whole question and the size that feels snug is the correct one; a bustier that is comfortable standing still is usually a size too large. The cloth stretches and returns, so it accommodates movement without loosening across a day. The back zip means it does not pull on over the head.

Styling

With a high-waisted trouser or a long skirt, where the neckline is a horizontal against a vertical. Under an open jacket, since anything closed over it flattens the shape it is holding. With black.

Care

A coated cloth with rubber in it does not want heat at any stage: no hot wash, no dryer, no iron on the face, since heat will change the coating and there is no reversing it. Wash cool by hand or on a gentle cycle in a bag, and dry flat away from direct sun. Our care guidance covers cotton and coated fabrics in more detail.

Related pieces

From the same collection, the Bolan Bootcut Trousers in foil denim. In a coated cloth again, the Prong Bather. Underneath it, the Drawstring Bias Trousers. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.