Rick Owens LS Prong Shirt

Prong is one of the few genuine model names in this house’s vocabulary rather than an Italian word for a garment type, and it describes a construction the designer has returned to across several seasons. The principle is a sculptural gathering: the jersey is ruched so that the fullness of the cloth is drawn toward a point and held, which concentrates the fabric where the construction wants it and empties it everywhere else. It descends from bustier-making rather than from shirtmaking, and it behaves accordingly.

Stretch jersey is what makes it possible. Ruching in a woven produces stiff, standing folds because a woven cannot recover; in a nylon jersey with elastane in it, the gathers compress and release with the body, so the construction moves rather than freezing. It also means the garment does the shaping rather than the wearer’s posture, which is the practical difference between a sculptural piece you can wear all evening and one you cannot.

Nylon jersey has a matte surface and a dry, cool handle. It is not a fabric anyone buys for what it signals, and using it here is a decision that the construction should be the only thing you notice.

Why we selected it

This is a piece of pattern-cutting first and a shirt second, and there are very few houses whose ruching is worth taking seriously. Most of it is gathering. This is drafted, and it holds its shape on a range of bodies, which is the test. We also wanted the Prong specifically because it is one of the constructions this designer keeps coming back to, and pieces from a house’s recurring vocabulary tend to look considered in five years where the season’s novelty does not.

The sculptural ruched cutout has become one of the recognisable constructions in this house’s women’s work, and the Prong is its name for it.

Materials and construction

Ninety-one percent nylon and nine percent elastane, made in Italy, in black. Stretch jersey with ruched detailing worked into the Prong construction. Long sleeved.

Fit notes

The elastane means this holds close and returns to shape, so it accommodates a wider range than the size label suggests and is meant to be worn snug. Ruching distributes differently on different bodies, which is the intention. Nylon jersey does not relax across a day the way cotton does; it holds where it starts. Take your usual size and expect the construction rather than the fit to be the thing you are judging.

Styling

On its own with black trousers or a long skirt. Under an open leather outershirt, which is the combination that makes the most sense of both garments. It is not a layering piece; anything over it that closes will flatten the ruching.

Care

Elastane is destroyed by heat, so no dryer, no hot water, and no iron on this one. Hand wash cool and dry flat. Our care guidance covers the general ground.

Related pieces

For a garment built by wrapping rather than by cutting, the Harness T. For asymmetry in a softer blend, the LS Babel Top. Over it, the Outershirt in lamb leather. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.