Rick Owens Drawstring Long

A knitted trouser in one hundred percent wool is a considerably better idea than it sounds and a much harder garment to build. Knit has no inherent structure: it stretches in every direction, and a trouser made from it will bag at the knee and seat within a week unless the yarn, the gauge, and the pattern are all correct. Get it right and you have a trouser with the give of a sweatpant and the warmth and breathability of wool, which is a genuinely superior thing to wear on a cold day.

The back flap pockets are the detail that pulls it away from athletic wear. A flap pocket is a piece of tailoring vocabulary, and putting one on a knitted trouser is a deliberate collision of registers: from the front it is soft and easy, from behind it has the seriousness of a trouser. The taper does the same job at the ankle, keeping the line disciplined where a drawstring trouser usually gives up.

Pure wool with no synthetic in it is unusual in a knit trouser and it is the reason this one is worth having. It breathes, it regulates, and it does not hold odour the way a cotton or a polyester sweatpant does.

Why we selected it

This is the trouser we recommend for travel and for winter and for the long shoulder weeks that Santa Fe specialises in. It is as comfortable as anything a person owns and it does not read as loungewear, which is a combination that almost nothing achieves.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent wool, knitted. Made in Italy, in Black. Back flap pockets, tapered leg, drawstring waist.

Fit notes

A knitted trouser stretches to the wearer and returns, so it fits over a wider range than a woven does. It will relax across a day and recover at rest. The taper means the ankle is the narrowest point and it is worth checking over a boot. Take your usual size.

Styling

With a boot and a heavy knit, which is the winter version. With a plain tee and a sneaker, which is the travelling version. Under a long coat it disappears entirely and is doing more work than anything else in the outfit.

Care

Wool knits want folding rather than hanging, airing rather than washing, and cool hand washing with a wool detergent when they genuinely need it, then drying flat and reshaping while damp. Hanging is what ruins a knit trouser, since the weight of the legs pulls the whole garment out of shape. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Tecuatl Track Pant, the Cargo Long, and the Pantaloni – Cargo Cropped. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.