Rick Owens Maglia – Dylan Sweater

Two things are happening on opposite sides of this sweater. The front is a plunging V, cut deep enough to change the proportion of the upper body, which is a decision that makes the garment read as a neckline first and a knit second. The back is where the house signs it: a knit channel running the full length of the spine, produced in the knitting rather than added afterwards, so it is a change in the structure of the fabric rather than a seam laid over it.

New wool at this weight is the right yarn for both. It is light enough that a deep neckline does not sag under the weight of the body beneath it, and it holds a knit channel crisply, where a softer or hairier yarn would blur the line into the surrounding fabric. Maglia is simply the house's word for a knit, so it says nothing about the model; what identifies this one is the channel and the depth of the V.

We bought this for the back. The spine channel is the detail we find ourselves pointing out to people who are new to the house, and on a light, pale knit it is more legible than it is on almost anything else in the line. The front is the reason it gets worn and the back is the reason it was made.

The knit channel down the centre back spine is one of this house's persistent structural signatures, and it is worked directly into the knitting rather than applied.

One hundred percent new wool, made in Italy, in dust. Lightweight knit with a plunging V neckline and a knit channel running down the centre back spine.

Light and soft, so it follows the body rather than holding away from it, and the deep neckline means the fit at the shoulder decides how far the V actually falls. New wool relaxes with wear and recovers with rest rather than with washing, so it will feel fuller after a day and come back if left flat. Take your usual size.

Over a rib tank, where the V becomes a frame rather than an opening. On its own with black trousers. Not under anything that covers the back, which is where the garment is.

Fine wool is worn several times between cleanings and rested flat between wearings rather than hung, since the shoulder takes the weight permanently on a hanger. Hand wash cool with a wool detergent at most, never wring it, and dry flat. Our care guidance covers wool in more detail.

In the same new wool, the Maglia Cropped Crater Knit. For the spine seam worked in cashmere, the Biker Level Round Neck. Underneath it, the Basic Rib Tank. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.