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Rick Owens Care Guide: Leather, Cotton, and Drape Fabrics

So you finally bought the jacket. It might have been a leather biker you spent months saving for, a heavy cotton hoodie you scored during a Rick Owens sale, or a draped tunic pricier than a month’s rent. Regardless, you now have a garment that rewards a little knowledge and punishes carelessness. Rick Owens pieces are not delicate in the fussy sense, but they are made from materials that behave in specific ways, and treating them like ordinary clothing is how people ruin expensive things. The good news: proper care comes down largely to restraint and a handful of simple habits. This guide walks through the three fabric families you are most likely to own. Master these basics and your pieces will survive longer than almost everything else you own.

Leather: The Investment That Asks the Least of You

Honestly, a Rick Owens leather jacket is among the simplest pieces in your wardrobe to care for, despite how much leather intimidates people. Rick Owens tends toward lamb and calf nappa, at times washed or blistered for the lived-in effect, and such hides want minimal interference. Never put leather through the washing machine and never dry clean it casually; only a real leather specialist, not the corner dry cleaner, should ever tackle a stain. Wipe surface dust with a slightly damp cloth and let it air dry away from radiators, since direct heat cracks the grain permanently. Feed the leather once or twice a year using a neutral, brand-safe balm, applied in a thin layer and buffed off after twenty minutes. Keep the jacket on a wide wooden or padded hanger to preserve the shoulders’ shape, and never on a thin wire hanger. Cared for like this, a $4,000 leather jacket comfortably lasts fifteen to twenty years and only improves as it patinas.

Dealing with Rain and Scuffs

Leather’s quiet enemy is water, but it is manageable if you act sensibly. Should you get caught in the rain, don’t panic and don’t blast the jacket with a hairdryer; Rick Owens simply hang it at room temperature and let it dry gradually over a day or two. When it’s dry, a quick coat of conditioner replaces the oils the water stripped and wards off stiffness. Small scuffs on washed nappa often buff out with nothing more than your fingertip and the natural warmth of your hand. Deeper scratches can sometimes be massaged less visible, though Rick Owens leather is meant to show character, so resist the urge to chase perfection. Salt marks from winter streets ought to be wiped off quickly with a barely damp cloth before they set in. The guiding idea here is gentle and slow, perfectly matching the worn-in aesthetic the brand prizes anyway.

Cotton: Hoodies, Tees, and the DRKSHDW Workhorses

Most owners wreck the cotton pieces, particularly DRKSHDW, through nothing more than overconfidence. That heavyweight jersey Rick Owens hoodie feels indestructible, but hot water and aggressive drying will shrink it, fade the dye, and wreck the carefully engineered drape. Wash cotton pieces inside out in cold water every time, ideally near 30 degrees Celsius, on a delicate cycle with a mild detergent. Skip the fabric softener entirely, because it coats the fibers and flattens the matte texture that gives these pieces their character. Never tumble dry; hang the garment to air dry, which protects both the dye and the elongated proportions the design depends on. Washing less often than you think you need to is genuinely better, since over-washing is the fastest route to a tired-looking hoodie. Follow these rules and a $600 hoodie stays looking expensive for years rather than months.

Drape Fabrics: The Payoff Is in the Patience

The flowing tunics, asymmetric skirts, and pooled-hem tops of the drape category are the hardest of the three, since the fabric content varies and the cut is the whole point. Many drape garments use viscose, rayon, cupro, or silk blends that lose their shape if handled roughly, so always read the care label before doing anything. When in doubt, hand wash in cold water with a tiny amount of delicate detergent, swishing gently rather than wringing or twisting. Press the water out by laying the garment flat between two towels, then dry it flat and reshape it by hand while damp. Hang a heavy wet drape garment and it stretches unevenly, potentially distorting that thoughtfully designed silhouette for good. For any piece that makes you nervous, a reputable dry cleaner versed in designer garments is money well spent. You paid for the drape, so safeguarding it is the entire task.

Storage and Day-to-Day Habits

How you store these clothes between wears matters almost as much as how you clean them. Allow your pieces room to breathe in the wardrobe, as jamming them together wrinkles the drape and crushes the structured shoulders on jackets. Use padded or wide wooden hangers for outerwear and fold heavy knits and hoodies instead of hanging them, since hanging stretches the neckline over time. Keep it all clear of direct sun, which fades the signature blacks and dusts into uneven grays faster than you’d think. A breathable cotton garment bag protects leather and drape pieces from dust without trapping moisture the way plastic does. When storing for the season, clean the garments first, since body oils and unseen stains draw moths and set permanently over the months. These small habits cost nothing and add years of life to genuinely expensive clothing.

Common Mistakes That Wreck Good Pieces

The bulk of damage to Rick Owens garments stems from a short list of avoidable mistakes, and learning them ahead of time spares a lot of grief. Top of the list is tossing a heavy hoodie into a hot load with everything else, shrinking the cotton and bleeding the careful dye in a single wash. Close behind is hanging knits and jersey on narrow hangers, stretching the shoulders into permanent bumps that no wash can fix. People also love to “freshen up” leather with household wipes or alcohol-based cleaners, which strip the natural oils and leave the hide dry and cracked within months. Ironing drape fabrics at high heat is yet another textbook catastrophe, flattening the texture and occasionally scorching delicate viscose blends beyond rescue. Putting away garments that look clean but haven’t been washed for a season invites moths to feast on invisible body oils. Finally, obsessing over every small scuff or fade misses the point of a label that prizes a worn, lived-in patina. Avoid these six habits and you have already done eighty percent of the work.

When to Bring in a Professional

Knowing your limits is part of caring for luxury garments well. Any structural fix, a ripped lining, a dying zipper, a burst seam on a leather jacket, calls for a specialist instead of a sewing kit and good intentions. Rick Owens retailers and the brand’s own service channels can frequently guide you on repairs, and the official site at rickowens.eu is the proper starting point for questions about a particular garment. For stubborn stains on leather or drape fabrics, avoid the DIY fixes you read about online and seek out a cleaner who openly deals with designer garments. The cost of a professional clean is trivial compared with replacing a four-figure garment you damaged trying to save twenty dollars. Industry guides at publications such as Highsnobiety regularly address designer garment care should you want to read more. By 2026, with the brand’s resale values remaining robust, well-maintained pieces are genuinely worth more too if you ever decide to sell. Treat the clothes as the long-term objects they are, and they will reward you for it.