Rick Owens and Sarutanya Weave a Decade of Intimacy Into Silk and Cashmere
A collaboration born from years of creative partnership, hand crocheted tower vests emerge as the quiet apotheosis of shared vision. These pieces marry the tactile warmth of cashmere with silk's ethereal drape, a union as refined as it is rare.
AI-assisted voice playback. Starts only when you choose Play.
There exists a particular kind of magic in creative relationships that deepen over time, where understanding becomes so profound that the boundaries between collaborator and muse begin to dissolve entirely. This is the essence of what Rick Owens has realised with Sarutanya, a partnership that has unfolded across ten years of collection fittings and steadfast presence within the house’s vision.
The Marial vests, conceived for the autumn and winter of 2026, represent the crystallisation of this long conversation. Each piece is hand crocheted, a process that demands patience, precision and an almost meditative attention to the interplay of stitch and structure. The marriage of silk and cashmere yields something altogether transcendent: a fabric that holds both warmth and weightlessness, that catches light with an understated luminescence while offering the sensual comfort of natural fibres against skin.
What distinguishes these tower vests is their architectural integrity. The crocheted construction allows for a sculptural quality, a sense of structure that feels both organic and intentional. The silhouette emerges as a conversation between the rigour of handcraft and the fluidity of natural fibres, creating pieces that possess genuine presence without resorting to excess or artifice.
The collaboration speaks to something deeper than the transactional nature of fashion’s typical partnerships. Sarutanya’s decade long journey through the house’s design process, her presence in fittings and her role as part of the e commerce family, suggests a relationship rooted in genuine aesthetic alignment rather than momentary commercial advantage. This continuity infuses every stitch with a sense of earned trust and shared purpose.
Hand crocheted luxury represents a deliberate resistance to the homogenising forces of contemporary fashion. Each vest carries the unmistakable signature of the hands that made it, the subtle variations that mark handmade work as distinctly human. In an era of increasing standardisation, these pieces offer something increasingly rare: garments that acknowledge the labour and intention embedded within them, visible in every loop and tension point.
The choice of silk and cashmere as materials elevates the work beyond mere technique. These are fibres chosen with understanding, materials that possess their own quiet nobility. Cashmere brings a hushed luxury, a softness that deepens with wear, whilst silk adds movement and luminosity, preventing the work from becoming heavy or utilitarian.
These vests exist in that rarified space where craft meets contemporary vision, where heritage techniques serve a distinctly modern sensibility. They are garments for those who understand that true luxury resides not in branding or visibility, but in the integrity of process and the authenticity of collaboration. The tower vest becomes a monument to a partnership that has earned its significance through time and shared artistic conviction.
Imagery courtesy of Rick Owens (@rickowensonline).