Rick Owens Draped Top – Black Rainino Jersey

Blended jerseys of this kind are made for drape and nothing else. Nylon gives the yarn strength and holds the knit together, viscose supplies the weight and the fall, and wool contributes warmth and a soft, slightly raised surface that catches light unevenly. The combination produces a cloth that is fluid but not slippery and that hangs in soft folds rather than sharp ones. That is a specific and deliberate hand, and it is not what a plain jersey does.

The halter cut then puts all the weight at one point and lets the rest of the garment fall from it, which is the most direct way to make a fabric's drape into the design. There is essentially no construction below the neckline. What the top looks like is what the cloth does.

The colour

In black the drape is read as depth rather than as line. The slightly raised surface of this blend catches light unevenly, so a black version of a garment with no seaming and no detail is not a flat shape: the folds separate by how much light each one holds, and the piece is legible in a way plain black jersey is not.

We bought this for the fabric. It is a much more interesting cloth than a top of this kind usually has in it, and the drape is the entire garment while the cloth is the reason the drape works, which makes it an unusually honest thing to sell.

The blended drape jerseys are among this house's most identifiable fabrics, developed for the way they fall rather than for the way they wear.

Nylon, viscose, and wool, made in Italy, in black. Draped halter construction.

A halter carries its weight at the back of the neck, so the neckline is what determines the fit and there is no shoulder seam to adjust it. The blend has some give and considerable drape, so it will follow the body and settle differently depending on how it is tied and worn. It relaxes with body heat across an evening.

With high-waisted black trousers, where the whole outfit is one colour and the only variation is in surface. Under an open leather jacket in cooler weather. On its own in summer.

A wool-containing blend, so treat it as knitwear rather than as a tee: hand wash cool with a wool detergent at most, dry flat, and never hang it wet. Our care guidance covers wool in more detail.

The same top in thulian pink is the Draped Top in thulian pink. For a halter with ruffles worked into the collar, the Wishbone Halter T. For a long-sleeved draped top, the LS Babel Top. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.