Comme des Garçon Wide Pleated Trousers

Volume in a trouser is usually paid for at the waist. The wider the leg, the more cloth has to be gathered in at the top, and the usual solution is to make the waistband elastic and stop thinking about it. This one has belt loops, which means it has a real waistband that holds a fixed measurement, and everything below it is pleating. The difference that makes is one of posture rather than comfort: a fixed waist gives the pleats a hard edge to fall from, so the leg breaks cleanly at the hip instead of blousing over a gathered band, and the whole trouser reads as tailored despite being enormous. Side pockets sit in the seam where they do not interrupt the pleating. The pleats run the full length, so the width is stored rather than cut, and the leg is narrow standing and wide walking.

A wide trouser with a proper waistband is much rarer than it should be, and it is the difference between a trouser you wear to dinner and one you wear at home.

Pleating as the mechanism for volume runs the length of the main line, and this is the version with conventional tailoring details attached to it.

One hundred percent polyester. Made in Japan. Wide-legged, with large pleats throughout, belt loops, and side pockets. Color: black.

Belt loops mean a fixed waist, so size for the waist and expect the leg to supply everything else. The hem is wide and will sit over most shoes without breaking. Pleating in a synthetic holds through a day rather than relaxing out of it.

With the Sweater Vest Hoodie or the Eyelet Button-Up. Under the Layered Organdy Jacket, where a structured jacket over an enormous leg is the proportion the house is best at.

Wash cool, hang to dry, and keep an iron away from the pleats, because heat is the one thing that changes a synthetic fold permanently and not for the better. Let the folds settle on the hanger. Our care guidance covers the rest.

The Pleated Trouser is the earlier cut of the same pleated wide leg. There is more on the house on the Comme des Garçons designer page. Everything we carry from Comme des Garçons is listed together.