What Is Sizing Like at Rick Owens Menswear?

Rick Owens runs large and long. The mainline is cut for drape rather than a close body-fit, the DRKSHDW diffusion line is deliberately oversized, and the footwear runs long — so most men end up sizing down, sometimes by a full size. Buy your usual size blind and you’ll almost certainly drown in it.

Mainline: Italian sizing and a generous cut

Rick Owens ready-to-wear uses Italian numeric sizing (46, 48, 50 and so on), and the house cut is long in the body and long in the sleeve by design. That elongated line is the whole point — it’s meant to hang, pool and move. Don’t fight it, work with it.

Jersey and tops run relaxed and sit longer than you expect. Want it closer to the body? Take a size down.
Knitwear is drapey and generous. It layers beautifully, but size down if you don’t want it swallowing you.
Trousers are cut long, often with a dropped crotch. Don’t panic at the length — it’s intentional. Go by the waist measurement, not the number on the tab.

DRKSHDW: bigger again

DRKSHDW is the more accessible cotton-and-denim line, and it’s oversized on purpose — elongated proportions, asymmetric cuts, boxy tees. My first DRKSHDW pod tee I bought in my usual large, and it fit like a nightshirt. I take a medium in that line now and it sits exactly the way the runway intends. The parkas and coats especially are baggy, so you can drop a full size and still have room to layer underneath.

The exceptions: blazers and leather

Not everything runs big, and this is where men come unstuck.

Tailoring and blazers fit tighter across the shoulder and chest than the rest of the range. Size up if you’re broad.
Leather jackets are cut lean and close. Size up, and remember the leather softens and gives a little with wear.

Footwear: size down (mostly)

The Geobaskets, Ramones and DRKSHDW low-tops run long with a slightly narrow toe box, so most men take half a size down in the sneakers. I learned that the hard way: my first pair of Ramones was true to size, I put up with heel slip for a month, then moved them on. The replacements, half a size down, are spot on.

Boots are more structured — true-to-size or only a half down tends to be safer here, especially if you’ve wider feet.
Leather stretches. If a leather pair feels snug on day one, that’s usually correct; they’ll relax into the right fit.

Where else to shop the Owens look

Not everyone wants to spend mainline money, and the draped, dark aesthetic lives across every budget. These are the brands I send clients to when they love the look but not always the price tag. (Cross-check against your own brand list before publishing.)

HIGH STREET

COS — the most Owens-adjacent thing on the high street: architectural cuts, muted palette, clean drape. The fit runs relaxed and slightly boxy, so it layers effortlessly.
Weekday — washed-black oversized denim and boxy jersey. The cheapest honest route into that elongated silhouette.
AllSaints — the high-street home of leather biker jackets and distressed knits if you want the rock-leaning edge without the designer outlay.

INDEPENDENT / BOUTIQUE

Thom Krom — a German label doing layered, techy, asymmetric pieces that genuinely share DNA with Owens. Ideal for building the look without top-tier spend.
Hannes Roether — drapey, muted knitwear and jersey with that same lived-in, sculptural feel. A quiet favourite of mine for everyday layering.

DESIGNER / LUXURY

Yohji Yamamoto (and the more wearable Y-3) — the closest kin to Owens: black, draped, Japanese avant-garde. The natural next step if you love the drama.
Ann Demeulemeester — Belgian, romantic-gothic, with lean and elongated tailoring. Perfect if you want the darkness on a sharper line.
Boris Bidjan Saberi — deep-end avant-garde, hand-treated garments and serious craft. For when you’re fully down the rabbit hole.

Stop guessing your Rick Owens size

Owens is exactly the label where a size chart alone won’t save you — the numbers are Italian, the cut is unconventional, and a return from a designer boutique is a genuine faff. That’s why I point people to Tellar.

Tellar.co.uk is the UK’s leading free sizing tool. You measure once — using your chest, waist, hip, or simply your existing size in a brand you already own — and it matches your body to 1,500+ brands instantly. No more squinting at a size guide before every purchase.

Measure once: follow the quick How to Measure guide for men.
Find your size in any brand: the Store Size Lookup for men covers COS, Reiss, Arket, Everlane and more.
Shop with confidence: fewer returns, better-fitting buys, no downloads — it’s always free and works straight in your browser.

There’s also the Tellar Fashion Hub, a library of honest, unbiased, independent and always-free posts from our stylists. Worth a read next:

Know your size before you buy

Match your body to Rick Owens — and 1,500+ other brands — in seconds. Free, no sign-up, no downloads.

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