Ann Demeulemeester Treze Bootcut Trousers

The bootcut has spent two decades as a punchline, which is precisely why a house like this one would return to it. The shape only fails when it is timid, a slight flare added to a straight leg as a hedge. Cut properly it does something no other trouser does: it holds the thigh, breaks at the knee, and then opens, which lengthens the leg and gives the whole silhouette a direction.

This pair commits. The line through the thigh is close, the break is definite, and the opening below it is generous enough to read as a decision. The lacing down the outside seam is the detail that moves it out of heritage denim and into this house's territory, because it turns a construction seam into something that can be tightened, loosened, and seen.

Anyone can sell a straight-leg black trouser. This is the one that requires the customer to have decided something, which is the kind of piece we would rather carry.

Ann Demeulemeester founded the label in 1985 and it has been designed by Stefano Gallici since 2023. The lacing is characteristic: a fastening treated as a visible part of the drawing rather than hidden.

One hundred percent cotton, made in Italy, in black. Five-pocket construction with side lacing detail.

Slim through the hip and thigh, opening from the knee. Cotton with no elastane in it means no give, so size for the thigh rather than the waist and expect the trouser to ease slightly with wear rather than recover. The lacing allows a small adjustment through the leg but is not a substitute for the right size.

With a heel or a substantial boot, because the flare needs somewhere to fall. Over a flat shoe it reads shorter than it is. A close top, since the trouser is carrying the volume.

Cotton at this weight washes cool and dries flat, but the lacing should be loosened before washing and retied after, or it dries into the shape it was left in. Our care guidance covers cotton in more detail.

If this is the one, look also at the Agnes Jacket to build the look, the Biba Top for a close layer, and the Zinaida Sweater. The rest of what we carry from the house is on the Ann Demeulemeester page.