Rick Owens Giacca- Soft Soft Blazer

Flannel is a finish rather than a fibre. Wool is woven and then brushed so the surface fibres lift into a soft nap, which is why flannel is warmer than its weight, matte rather than shiny, and forgiving of creases in a way a smooth worsted never is. It is the cloth that makes a jacket comfortable in the literal sense, and it is what turns tailoring from something you put on for an occasion into something you reach for.

The construction here is deliberately plain. A straight silhouette, no waist suppression, and a single horn button holding the front. Horn is worth noticing: it is a natural material, so no two buttons are identical, and it takes on a low shine with handling rather than staying flat. The jacket is fully lined in cupro, which is a regenerated cellulose fibre made from cotton linter, and the reason it is used in linings is that it is cooler and slides more readily than acetate or polyester, so the jacket goes on over a knit without dragging.

This is the jacket we sell to someone who wants one and does not want a project. It is the plainest tailoring from a house not known for plain tailoring, and that combination is unusual enough to be worth the space. Flannel and a horn button and a cupro lining are also, individually, small decisions that cost money and that nobody notices, which is generally the sign that a garment was made properly.

The house's tailoring runs from severe to soft, and this is the soft end of it, in the most familiar cloth in menswear.

Body one hundred percent virgin wool, in a flannel finish. Lining one hundred percent cupro. Made in Italy, in black. Straight silhouette, single horn button closure, fully lined.

A straight silhouette means the jacket does not narrow at the waist, so it reads as relaxed and hangs from the shoulder. Flannel has body and does not cling, which flatters most people and adds a little apparent width, so it is worth trying your usual size before sizing down. It layers over a shirt or a fine knit comfortably.

Over a fine knit with a straight trouser. Black flannel is the most useful thing in a wardrobe and the least demanding, so let the other pieces be interesting.

Brush it, air it, and hang it on a shaped hanger. Flannel picks up more than a smooth cloth does and gives it up readily to a clothes brush, which is most of the maintenance. Use a good cleaner rarely. Our care guidance covers the rest.

The F/W 25 Fogpocket Soft Blazer is virgin wool, the Fogpocket Soft Soft Blazer is the Forest one, the S/S 26 Fogpocket Soft Soft Blazer is cotton, and the JMF Neue Jacket is silk. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.