Rick Owens Geth Jean

Polyester is the least romantic fibre there is and it is doing something here that cotton cannot. A polyester woven of this weight is crisp rather than soft, holds a fold indefinitely, and has a dry, slightly papery handle that stays the same wash after wash. In a five-pocket jean, where every expectation is of a cloth that softens, fades, and takes an impression of the wearer, that produces a garment that behaves in the opposite direction: it stays exactly as it began and it stands away from the leg rather than falling against it.

The Geth cut is the other half. Low rise, wide through the leg, straight to the hem, with none of the taper that most wide trousers use to hedge. In a soft cloth that shape collapses into the body; in a crisp one it holds its own volume, and the trouser reads as two straight columns rather than as fabric draped over legs. This is a case where an unglamorous fibre was clearly chosen on purpose.

We took this because it is a jean that does not want to become your jeans. Nothing about it will fade, mould, or record how it has been worn, which is the opposite of the argument for denim and is a legitimate second answer to the same question. It is also the piece we point at when someone assumes a fibre is a proxy for quality.

Geth is one of the house's continuing jean cuts, re-made season to season in cloths ranging from heavyweight cotton to corduroy to wool, so the name describes the pattern rather than the material.

One hundred percent polyester, made in Italy, in dust. Crisp woven fabric. Straight leg, wide fit, low rise, five-pocket construction.

Low through the rise and wide through the leg, so the waist sits below where a conventional trouser puts it and the volume begins immediately. There is no stretch, and polyester of this type does not ease with wear, so the size you try on is the size you keep. The cloth holds its shape rather than draping, which means the fit reads as cut rather than as fall.

With a close top, since the trouser is carrying all the volume in the outfit. Over a substantial shoe or a platform, which the width needs. With black, where dust reads as the lighter of two neutrals rather than as a colour.

Polyester washes easily and is the least demanding thing in this range, but it is heat sensitive in a way cotton is not: a hot dryer or a hot iron will glaze the surface permanently and take the dry handle off it. Wash cool, hang to dry, and press low or not at all. Our care guidance covers synthetics in more detail.

The same cut in a natural fibre is the Geth Jeans in cotton, and in wool, the F/W 25 Geth Jean. With cargo pockets on it, the SS26 Geth Cargo. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.