Rick Owens Knee Bias Skirt

Velvet on the bias is an unusual combination and the reason to look at this one. Velvet is a pile fabric and pile fabrics are ordinarily heavy and directional: they hold their shape, they shade differently depending on which way the nap runs, and they are generally cut square to the weave because they are difficult enough already. Turning the pattern to the diagonal produces a velvet that swings, which almost nothing in that family does.

The blend is what makes it possible. At eighty-two percent viscose and eighteen percent silk this is a lightweight velvet rather than a formal one, with enough fluidity to take the bias and enough silk to give the pile its depth. In practice it means a velvet skirt you could wear on an ordinary Thursday, which is not a sentence that usually applies.

The elastic waist is the practical concession that makes the whole thing wearable. On a bias-cut skirt it is also structurally sensible, since a rigid waistband fights a fabric that wants to move.

Why we selected it

We wanted velvet in the store that was not evening wear. This is it. Bias also uses far more cloth than a straight cut and demands a more accurate one, which is why so little of it gets made at all.

Materials and construction

Eighty-two percent viscose and eighteen percent silk, in a lightweight velvet. Made in Italy, in Black. Knee length, bias cut, elastic waist.

Fit notes

The elastic waist fits a range rather than a single measurement. A bias cut follows the hip closely and releases below it, and the hem of a bias skirt settles unevenly over the first wearings, which is the fabric dropping rather than a fault.

Styling

With a boot and a heavy knit in winter, which is the version we prefer. With a flat sandal and a plain tee in summer, which people do not expect of velvet and which works. Black velvet takes silver better than gold.

Care

Velvet is never pressed flat; heat and pressure crush the pile and it does not come back. Steam it from the reverse while it hangs, or have it cleaned by someone who is told it is velvet. Store it hanging with room around it. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Abito – Taco Gown in the same viscose-silk velvet, the Calf Bias Skirt, and the SS26 A Line Bias Skirt. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.