Rick Owens Prong Bather

Swimwear is engineering with almost no room for design, which is why most of it looks the same. There are only so many places a seam can go. What separates this one is the line of the leg, cut very high, and the depth of the neckline, which together stretch the body vertically in the way the house’s clothing does with volume and proportion. It is recognisably from the same hand as the dresses, in a garment with a fraction of the material to work with.

Nylon with twenty-two percent elastane is a high elastane content and it is what a close, high-cut suit requires: enough recovery that the shape holds wet as well as dry, and enough stretch to move.

Why we selected it

Our summers are long and our customers travel. A well-cut black one-piece from a house they already wear is an easy thing to want and a surprisingly hard thing to find.

Materials and construction

Seventy-eight percent nylon and twenty-two percent elastane. Made in Italy, in Black. High-cut leg, plunging neckline, one piece.

Fit notes

Swimwear with this much elastane fits close and over a range, and a high-cut leg reads shorter on the body than a standard cut. It should feel firm dry; it will relax when wet and recover as it dries.

Styling and care

Under a shirt or an open knit it works as a bodysuit, which is how a good deal of it will be worn. Rinse in cold fresh water after every wear, because chlorine and salt both attack elastane, and dry flat in the shade rather than in direct sun. Never wring it. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Boxer Swimmer, the F/W 25 Twist Dress in a related nylon-elastane, and the Flip Flops. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.