Rick Owens F/W 25 SL Flight Vest

A down vest is a more intelligent garment than it is usually given credit for. Most of the heat a body loses goes from the core, and most of the bulk a coat adds goes to the arms, so removing the sleeves takes away the encumbrance and keeps nearly all of the warmth. It is also the only piece of outerwear that layers under a jacket without fighting it, because there is nothing at the shoulder or the elbow to compress.

This one is filled with ninety percent goose down and ten percent mallard feathers, which is a high down ratio: down is the three-dimensional cluster that traps air, feathers are flat and add structure and weight, and the more down in the mix the more warmth you get per gram. The shell is a plain lightweight nylon. The neck comes up high, and the zip runs asymmetrically rather than straight, which is the one line on the garment that belongs to this house rather than to the category.

From Concordians, the F/W 25 collection.

Why we selected it

This is the quietly useful one. It goes under a coat in deep winter, over a knit in the shoulder seasons, and it is the garment a customer ends up wearing more days than the coat they bought it to go under. We also took it because the asymmetric zip and high neck are enough to make it read as designed rather than as equipment, which is the failure mode of nearly every down vest.

The house cuts its technical outerwear on the same asymmetric lines as its leather, and this is the lightest example of it here.

Materials and construction

Shell one hundred percent nylon. Fill ninety percent goose down, ten percent mallard feathers. Made in Italy, in black. High neck, asymmetric zip closure.

Fit notes

Lightweight down has very little bulk, so this sits closer than a padded vest usually does and will go under a coat without adding a size. It is cut to be layered, so take the size that clears a knit rather than the one that fits over a shirt. Down compresses where it is pressed and recovers when hung, which is normal.

Styling

Over a fine knit, under a coat, with a straight trouser. It is black and plain, so it does not need managing. The high neck means nothing else should be at the throat.

Care

Store it loose rather than compressed, because crushing down for a season is what permanently costs it loft. A down fill in a nylon shell should be cleaned by someone who launders down rather than by a general dry cleaner. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

For down in a jacket, the Turtle Coat and the Funnel Neck Jacket. The F/W 25 Island Jacket is from the same collection, and the Black Flight Classic Bomber is the bomber. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.