Rick Owens SS26 Bombers Are Cut From Como Silk Taffeta

Como province produces roughly 75% of the world's high-grade silk fabric. The looms have been running since the 16th century. When Rick Owens specifies that the taffeta for his SS26 Temples Secchia Flight jacket is woven in Como, he is not giving you a geographic footnote. He is telling you where this fabric sits in the global hierarchy of silk production. The Secchia Flight is the Temples collection's oversized bomber. Gathered sleeves. Ribbed collar, cuffs, and waistband. Center-front zipper. Front-side snap pockets with flaps. Internal zippered pockets. Silk taffeta is a plain-weave fabric with a slight sheen and a characteristic crispness; it holds its shape differently than a washed silk or a charmeuse. In a bomber cut, taffeta creates volume that reads as architectural rather than casual. ## The Temples Collection Context SS26 Temples was the companion collection to Rick Owens' retrospective exhibition, Temple of Love, at the Musée Palais Galliera in Paris. The collection theme was "tough clothes for tough times," which Owens has used as a frame before but which lands differently when the context is an institutional retrospective of your own work. The Temples runway put men's pieces through a draped, sculptural treatment that referenced the designer's ongoing conversation with ancient Greek and Roman form. The Secchia silhouette, with its gathered sleeves and ribbed construction, is softer than the more industrial Owens pieces from earlier seasons, which leaned into raw-edged georgette and vegetable-tanned leather. Silk taffeta in the context of a collection called Temples is a deliberate choice. It reads as ceremonial without being decorative. ## Silk Against Owens's Archive Owens has used silk before, but his signature materials run toward stretch and drape: wool gabardine, cupro, regenerated cellulose. The taffeta choice is notable because taffeta does not give. It holds the structure the cutter built into it. On a Secchia Flight with gathered sleeves, that means the volume around the upper arm is architectural, not drapey. The sleeve does not collapse against the body. It holds position. This is a different structural argument than the leather bombers from the DRKSHDW line, which are stiff for durability reasons, or the lightweight cotton pieces from previous summer collections, which move with the body. Taffeta splits the difference between structure and weight: it is rigid without being heavy, which is a combination that works for a piece you actually wear rather than a piece you collect. ## The SIMON Model Designation In Owens's sizing system, SIMON is a specific model in the men's tailored category, typically a slimmer cut through the torso and shoulder than the standard or the GRUNT silhouette. A Secchia Flight cut to SIMON proportions means the gathered sleeves are not compensating for a boxy fit. The silhouette is fitted through the body with the volume intentionally concentrated in the sleeve, which is where the designer wants you to look. This kind of architectural specificity is why Owens's prices hold and why his archive trades at a premium relative to his retail point. Pieces constructed with this level of fit logic and material specification are not interchangeable with other bombers at similar price points. ## Available Now The Secchia Flight in silk taffeta is listed on rickowens.eu. Reach-in pockets, ribbed trim, Como region provenance. This is the silkiest version of a garment that Owens has been refining for two decades. The question is not whether the material is right. The question is whether you are ready to commit to a bomber that holds its shape whether or not you want it to.