Rick Owens LS Babel Top

Two things are happening here and they pull in opposite directions, which is what makes the garment work. The front is disciplined: a mock neck, close through the body, no interruption. The left hip is not, and the drape gathered there throws the whole silhouette off axis. Asymmetry achieved by adding fabric rather than by cutting a hem on the diagonal is the harder and more interesting version, because the extra cloth has to fall correctly on a moving body and not just hang well on a hanger.

Down the back runs a knit channel along the spine. It is one of the marks this house puts on almost everything it knits, and on a piece this plain from the front it is most of what tells you where the garment came from. The viscose-dominant blend is what allows the drape to read at all: viscose falls heavily for its weight and has very little spring, so a gather in it hangs as a column rather than puffing out.

Why we selected it

We bought this for the back as much as the front. The spine channel is the detail we find ourselves pointing out to people who are new to the house, and on this piece it is unusually legible. The colour decided the rest of it: Thulian pink against black is one of the few colour moves this designer makes, and when we can get it we do.

The knit channel down the centre back spine is one of the house’s persistent structural signatures, and the Babel is where it is most visible on a plain front.

Materials and construction

Sixty-eight percent viscose and thirty-two percent polyester, made in Italy, in Thulian pink. Mock neck, draped detail at the left hip, and a knit channel running down the centre back spine.

Fit notes

Close through the body, with the drape adding volume on one side only, so it reads asymmetrically from the front and squarely from the back. Viscose jersey is fluid and has limited recovery, so this follows the body rather than holding away from it and will relax slightly across a day. The mock neck sits high enough to work as a layer under something open.

Styling

With black trousers, where the pink does all the work. Under an open jacket or the leather outershirts, which lets the neckline show and keeps the hip drape visible. Not under anything that covers the back.

Care

Viscose is weaker wet than dry, so hand wash cool or take it to a cleaner, and dry it flat. Never wring it. Our care guidance covers the general ground.

Related pieces

For the same viscose and polyester blend in a plainer cut, the SL Soft V. For drape carried from the neckline rather than the hip, the Draped Top. For shape built by construction rather than by drape, the LS Prong Shirt. Over it, the F/W 25 Outershirt. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.