Rick Owens F/W 25 Headon Pull Sweater – Brown

Alpaca behaves unlike wool and the difference is the reason this sweater works. Wool fibre has crimp, a natural waviness that makes it springy and inclined to hold a shape. Alpaca has very little, so it falls instead of standing, and it is hollow in the fibre, which is why it insulates well at a weight that does not feel like armour. At forty-eight percent, alpaca is the dominant character in this yarn: the sweater drapes from the shoulder rather than holding away from the body.

That matters because the cut is boxy and the sleeves are long. A boxy sweater in a springy wool becomes a box. In an alpaca-led yarn it falls into soft vertical folds and reads as volume rather than as bulk, which is the whole intention. The nylon in the blend is there for strength, since alpaca on its own is a weak yarn, the wool restores a little of the elasticity alpaca lacks, and the two percent elastane gives the ribbing its recovery. It is a sensible blend rather than a purist one, and it is the reason the sweater will still be the right shape in five years.

It comes from Concordians, the F/W 25 collection named for the town in the Veneto where the house produces.

We bought this one twice, in two colours, which is the clearest statement we can make about it. It is as comfortable as knitwear gets, the alpaca content is high enough to actually register in the hand rather than being a line on a label, and the boxy cut is one of the few oversized shapes that does not require the wearer to be committed to oversized clothing. It is also tagged for men and women and genuinely works as both, which is rarer than it sounds.

Forty-eight percent alpaca, thirty percent nylon, twenty percent wool, two percent elastane. Made in Italy. Mock neck, boxy body, long sleeves. It comes in two colourways, in brown and in black.

Boxy by design, so the width is intended and sizing down will not produce a fitted sweater, only a short one. The sleeves are cut long. Alpaca relaxes across a day of wearing and recovers when it is rested and folded, so a sweater that feels right in the morning and generous by evening is behaving normally rather than stretching.

Against black and charcoal, which is where a warm brown does its best work and where most people do not expect it. With a black trouser and a boot. It is the piece that stops an all-black wardrobe from reading as a uniform.

Fold it, never hang it, because alpaca drapes readily and a hanger will pull the shoulders out. Hand wash cool with a wool detergent, dry flat, and reshape it while damp. Air it between wearings rather than washing it. Our care guidance covers the rest.

The Headon Pull in black is the same sweater. The F/W 25 Tommy LS Sweater uses the same yarn in a wider cut. Alongside them, the Maglia Tommy Lupetto and the F/W 25 Island Jacket from the same collection. There is more on the house on the Rick Owens designer page. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.