Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Wool Trousers

Three percent is a small number that changes a garment completely. Wool has almost no elastic recovery on its own, which is why a genuinely skinny wool trouser without stretch is either uncomfortable or baggy at the knee by lunchtime, and there is no third option. Polyurethane at three percent supplies the recovery: the leg gives when the knee bends and pulls back when it straightens. That is the entire reason this trouser can be cut as close as it is. The low rise is the other decision, and it is a deliberate one in a period when almost every trouser has moved up: a low rise puts the waistband below the natural waist, which lengthens the torso and shortens the leg line, and it pairs with a cropped or short jacket rather than a long one. Lined in one hundred percent cupra. Ninety-seven percent wool, black, made in Japan.

Why we selected it

A close-cut wool trouser is only worth owning if it recovers, and most of them do not. The three percent is why this one holds its line at the end of a day.

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus keeps cutting close and low while most of menswear has gone the other way, which is a position rather than an oversight.

Materials and construction

Ninety-seven percent wool and three percent polyurethane. Lining: one hundred percent cupra. Skinny leg, low rise, belt loops. Made in Japan. Color: Black.

Fit notes

Cut skinny and low, so the size is decided at the seat and the thigh and the waistband sits below the natural waist. The polyurethane means the leg recovers overnight rather than staying bagged at the knee. A low rise wants a shorter top layer over it.

Styling

With the Homme Plus Button Cardigan or under the Homme Plus Boiled Wool Jacket, where black under cream is the version that makes the jacket legible. With the Homme LS Button-Up.

Care

Wool governs. Have them cleaned rather than washed. Polyurethane degrades with heat and with age whatever anyone does, so keep these away from a dryer and away from a radiator, and expect the recovery to be the first thing that goes over a long life. The cupra lining is a regenerated cellulosic and is weakest wet. Our care guidance covers the rest, including the lining question.

Related pieces

The Homme Wool Jacket is wool with a cotton lining and cupra sleeves, and the Homme Plus Boiled Wool Suit is wool and nylon in cream, a jacket and a trouser sold together. Everything we carry from Comme des Garçons is listed together.