Rick Owens SL Tommykite V

Cupro jersey is an underrated cloth and the reason this dress works. Cupro is a regenerated cellulose fibre spun from cotton linter, and knitted as a jersey it produces something with the cool hand and drape of a viscose but noticeably more breathable, because cellulose fibres move moisture in a way synthetics do not. Four percent elastane gives it the recovery to hold a knee-length shape through a day.

What that adds up to is a dress you can wear in genuine heat. That is a rarer property than it should be: most fluid dresses are polyester or acetate, which look correct and do not breathe, and most breathable ones are cotton, which creases. Cupro jersey does both jobs, which is why it has quietly become one of this house’s staple cloths.

The cut is medium weight rather than light, so it hangs and skims rather than clinging. On a summer dress that weight is what separates something you can wear to lunch from something you can only wear on a beach.

Why we selected it

We wanted a warm-weather dress that would work in a Santa Fe July and still look like something. This is it, and the fabric is the entire reason. It is also the Owens dress we recommend first to a customer who is not sure the house is for them, because it asks the least of the wearer.

Materials and construction

Ninety-six percent cupro and four percent elastane, in a medium-weight jersey. Made in Italy, in Black. Knee length.

Fit notes

A jersey with elastane fits over a range and holds close without gripping. It will relax across a day and recover with rest. Take your usual size; the medium weight means it skims rather than clings, so there is no need to size up for coverage.

Styling

With a flat sandal in the heat and a boot when it cools. Under a leather jacket or an open shirt. It is a plain black dress and it will take whatever you put with it, which is why it travels well.

Care

Cupro is happiest hand washed cool and dried flat away from direct heat, and it can water-spot if dried carelessly. Heat degrades the elastane, so no dryer and no hot press. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Slip Dress in cupro, the SS26 Combo Slip Dress, and the Arrowhead Gown. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.