Rick Owens Kite T

The elbow-length sleeve is the whole garment. It is a length almost nobody cuts, because it sits between the two lengths that read as normal and therefore has to be right or it looks like an accident. Here it is deliberate: the sleeve ends where the arm bends, which changes the proportion of the upper body and gives the piece a different silhouette from every short-sleeved and long-sleeved top around it.

The V neckline and the light weight do the rest, and they are doing it quietly. This is a top that has one idea and does not add a second, which at this house is more unusual than it sounds.

Why we selected it

We took this for the sleeve length. It solves the shoulder-season problem that a short sleeve and a long sleeve both fail at, and once someone owns one they tend to want another. That is the entire reason and we are not going to invent a second one.

The lightweight jersey tops are the most wearable end of this house’s women’s line and the place most people start.

Materials and construction

Made in Italy, in black. Lightweight, with a V neckline and elbow-length sleeves.

Fit notes

Lightweight jersey follows the body rather than holding away from it, and the elbow-length sleeve sits close at the upper arm. It layers under a jacket without bulk and works alone. Take your usual size.

Styling

Under either cropped outershirt, where the sleeve length shows below a cropped layer. With black trousers. Alone in the shoulder seasons, which is what it is for.

Care

Wash cool, dry flat or hang away from heat, and keep it out of a hot dryer. Our care guidance covers the general ground.

Related pieces

For another V neckline, the SL Soft V. For the crop in cotton, the LS Crop T and the Cropped Level T. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.