RICK OWENS OLIVIA RHINO TOP USES GRS RECYCLED NYLON

Rick Owens' SS26 Temple line splits its most technical piece from its most traditional one, and puts them online on the same day. The Rhino Top, worn by Olivia in the brand's new release, is cut from GRS certified recycled nylon in a sheer stretch tulle weave. The Tank Gown beside it drops the synthetic fiber entirely for silk georgette. Same collection, same drop, two completely different material arguments, and neither one is the cotton or leather that has carried most of Temple's press so far.

The Rhino Top Runs On Recycled Nylon, Not Cotton

GRS stands for Global Recycled Standard, the certification that verifies a garment's recycled content and audits the mill's water use, emissions and chemical processing along the way. The Rhino Top's fabric is lightweight, sheer nylon stretch tulle with a soft handfeel, built to move with the body rather than structure it. That is a departure from the cotton and leather pieces that have carried most of Temple's press so far. Recycled polyamide behaves differently than organic cotton. It stretches, it holds a faint sheen, and it does not require the same dye load, which is part of why the studio reaches for it when a piece needs to read sheer instead of solid. The certification also means the mill has been audited for reduced reliance on virgin, non renewable feedstock, not just for the finished fabric's recycled content percentage.

Silk Georgette Carries The Tank Gown Instead

Georgette is a plain weave silk with a crepe texture, made by twisting alternating S and Z twist yarns so the finished cloth carries a slight grain and a matte, textured drape rather than a shine. That texture is why it catches light unevenly instead of reflecting it in one sheet, whether under runway lighting or in a still product photo. Pairing a synthetic recycled top with a natural silk gown inside one drop is a deliberate contrast, not an accident. The SL Gown from the same Temple line took a similar sheer approach in embroidered tulle at roughly 625 euro, which gives buyers a price anchor for where Temple's other sheer eveningwear tends to land before the Tank Gown's own price is confirmed.

Temple Runs Two Certification Systems At Once

Most collections pick one sustainability standard and stick with it for the season. Temple is running GOTS and GRS in parallel across the same SS26 line. The Harness Tank uses GOTS certified organic cotton, a standard that requires a minimum 70 percent organic fiber content along with restricted chemical processing and third party labor audits. The Rhino Top's GRS certification covers a completely different supply chain, recycled synthetic fiber rather than grown fiber, verified for reduced water consumption and hazardous waste rather than organic sourcing. The Sulian Trench, priced at 2,795 dollars, sits on the GOTS side of that same ledger. Running both systems in one drop means the studio is auditing two separate material chains instead of consolidating around one, which costs more to manage but covers more of the collection's actual fabric mix, cotton and leather on one side, recycled nylon and polyester on the other. The same GRS standard also certifies recycled polyester and nylon across sportswear and running shoes, the material logic that put recycled content into performance footwear well before it reached a Paris runway.

Owens Called This Season Gritty Softness

Owens has described the SS26 Temple season as gritty softness, a shift away from the high tension theatricality of recent collections toward what he calls steely tenacity. The Rhino Top and Tank Gown both fit that description literally. Sheer nylon tulle and silk georgette are fabrics that move rather than hold a shape, the opposite of the heavy leather and metal shoulder pieces that anchored earlier Temple drops this season. Softness here is not a retreat from Owens' usual severity. It is the same architecture built from fabric that yields instead of fabric that resists, which is a harder trick to pull off than another armored trench.

Buy the Rhino Top if sheer recycled nylon fits into a wardrobe that already leans on Temple's leather and cotton pieces; on its own it reads more like an underlayer than a standalone top. The Tank Gown is the stronger standalone piece, since silk georgette holds up as eveningwear by itself in a way a stretch tulle top does not. Both are live now on Rick Owens online, and both prove the same point from opposite directions. Temple's SS26 season is not choosing between recycled synthetics and natural fiber. It is certifying both at once, in the same drop, on the same day.