Rick Owens Slip Dress – Black

Japonette is a cupro fabric and the name is worth knowing, because it identifies a specific quality rather than a generic one. Cupro itself is a regenerated cellulose fibre spun from cotton linter, the short fibres left on the seed after ginning, and what distinguishes it from viscose is the fineness of the filament: it can be spun extremely fine, which produces a cloth with a cool, slippery surface and a fluid weight far beyond what its lightness suggests.

That combination is exactly what a slip dress needs and almost nothing else provides. The dress has no structure at all, no fastening, no lining, and no seaming doing any work. It hangs from two thin straps and falls, which means the cloth is the entire garment. A slip in a fabric that does not drape properly is simply a rectangle.

Cupro is also breathable in a way that a polyester or an acetate slip is not, because cellulose fibres move moisture. In practice that means a slip you can wear in genuine heat rather than one that looks as though you could.

The cut is mid thigh with a V at the front and a scoop at the back. It is deliberately unremarkable, and that is the point of the garment.

Why we selected it

The slip is the most useful dress there is and the one most often made badly. A garment with no structure in it is only as good as its cloth, so we looked for one that would drape properly and hold its shape over years rather than a season, and this is the one that did. We bought it twice because a garment this plain earns a second colour, and because the two we chose are as far apart as this house’s palette allows.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cupro, in a lightweight Japonette. Made in Italy. Mid thigh, V neck, spaghetti straps, scooped back. From Spring/Summer 2025. In Black and in Mouthwash.

The colour

Black cupro has a cool depth to it rather than a shine, and on a slip it is the version that disappears under everything and works on its own. It is the one to buy first.

Fit notes

A slip fits at the shoulder and the bust and skims everywhere else. Cupro has no stretch, so the size is the size and there is no give to rely on. It is cut mid thigh, which is shorter than most slips of this kind.

Styling

Under a knit or a leather jacket, over a long-sleeved tee in the cold, or on its own in July. With a heavy boot for the version we like best.

Care

Cupro is happiest hand washed cool and dried flat away from direct heat, and it water-spots if it is dried carelessly. Press low if at all, and do not wring, since wet cellulose fibres lose strength. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Slip Dress in Mouthwash, the SS26 Combo Slip Dress, the SL Tommykite V, and the Abito Wrap Dress in cupro. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.