Rick Owens- Calf Bias Skirt

Bias is the whole garment. Cutting a pattern at forty-five degrees to the weave rather than square to it changes the behaviour of the cloth completely: threads that have almost no give along their own length will stretch and recover on the diagonal, so a bias skirt follows the body without being fitted and swings when the wearer turns. It is the reason a bias cut looks fluid in a fabric that is not itself stretchy.

It is also expensive. Bias consumes considerably more cloth than a straight cut, it will not forgive an inaccurate pattern, and the finished garment has to hang for a period before hemming so the fabric can drop under its own weight. Almost no one does it at volume any more, which is why a genuinely bias-cut skirt is worth noticing at all.

The cloth is sixty-one percent acetate and thirty-nine percent silk, which is a light, fluid blend with a low lustre rather than a shine. Acetate carries the drape and the weight; silk gives the strength and the depth of colour. The hem is left raw, which on a bias cut is a deliberate refusal, since the diagonal edge is exactly the one that dressmaking convention insists on binding.

Why we selected it

We buy bias when it is cut properly, and it usually is not. This skirt does the one thing that only bias does, in a cloth light enough to show it. The elastic waist is the unglamorous second reason: it means a skirt that moves like this can still be pulled on in the morning.

Materials and construction

Sixty-one percent acetate and thirty-nine percent silk. Made in Italy. Calf length, bias cut, elastic waist, raw hem. In Mahogany and in Black.

The colour

Black on a bias cut is the purest version of the idea, because there is no colour doing any of the work and the entire effect comes from the way the cloth moves. If you want to understand what bias is, buy this one.

Fit notes

The elastic waist fits over a range rather than to a measurement. A bias cut sits close at the hip and releases below it, so the skirt reads narrower at the top and fuller at the hem than the same measurement cut straight. A bias hem settles unevenly over the first wearings, which is the cloth dropping and not a fault.

Styling

With anything, which is the point of a black skirt. We would put it with a heavy boot rather than a delicate shoe, so the movement of the skirt has something solid beneath it.

Care

Acetate is heat-sensitive and water-spots readily, so this is a dry-clean cloth in practice and should be pressed cool through a cloth if at all. The raw hem is the finish and should not be trimmed or overlocked. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Calf Bias Skirt in Mahogany, the Knee Bias Skirt, the SS26 A Line Bias Skirt, and the Drawstring Bias Trousers. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.