Rick Owens Maglia- Tommy Lupetto

Lupetto is the Italian knitwear word for a small standing collar, shorter than a roll neck and taller than a crew, and it is the most useful neckline in a wardrobe: it covers the throat without the bulk of a turtleneck and sits cleanly under a jacket. Combined here with dropped shoulders, where the sleeve seam falls below the actual shoulder, the sweater has no fixed points on the body at all. It hangs from the neck and settles.

The cashmere is recycled, which is worth understanding rather than skimming. Recycled cashmere is reclaimed from existing cashmere and re-spun, so the fibres are shorter than virgin ones. That produces a slightly softer, drier, less lofty yarn, and it means a garment that has already had one life. Three percent wool is blended in for strength.

We wanted a cashmere mock neck that was not precious about itself, and a dropped shoulder gets you there: it is a sweater to wear rather than to protect. The recycled yarn is the other reason. It is the right thing on its own terms and it also produces a hand we prefer, drier and less slippery than virgin cashmere at this weight.

Ninety-seven percent recycled cashmere, three percent wool, made in Italy, in black. Mock neck, dropped shoulders.

Dropped shoulders mean the sweater fits loosely by design, and the shoulder width you see is intended rather than an error of size. It layers over a shirt and under a jacket, though a dropped shoulder takes up room inside a close-fitting jacket, so try it with the tailoring you own. Recycled cashmere is soft immediately and will pill a little more readily than virgin cashmere in the first weeks.

Under any of the blazers here, or on its own with a straight trouser. A mock neck is the right thing under a jacket when a shirt would be too much.

Fold it, never hang it. Hand wash cool with a gentle detergent, press the water out between towels, and dry flat away from sun and heat. Recycled cashmere pills a little more in the early wearings, and a cashmere comb deals with it. Our care guidance covers cashmere in detail.

Alongside it, the Maglia Naska Lupetto, the Maglia Biker Round Neck, the Oversize Roundneck in recycled cashmere, and the Raglan Crewneck. There is more on the house on the Rick Owens designer page. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.