Kuon Fanage Corduroy Tapered Trousers

Corduroy fails at the knee, and it fails there because the pile is a raised structure and a knee is the place a trouser is pressed and flexed against a joint all day. Cut a corduroy close and you get a bald patch in a year, in the shape of a knee. Cut it loose and the cloth moves independently of the joint, and the pile survives. That is the practical reason this trouser is cut the way it is, and the gentle taper is what stops loose becoming shapeless: the fullness is carried through the thigh and drawn in below the knee, so the leg reads as deliberate rather than as too big. The cropped inseam is the third decision and it follows from the other two. A loose leg that breaks on the shoe stacks and looks heavy; the same leg finished above the shoe falls clean and shows the taper. The cloth is Kuon’s own Fanage corduroy, hand-dyed and dried in the sun rather than over rollers, which is why the olive is not one flat tone.

Why we selected it

Corduroy trousers are usually cut like jeans, which is the one shape corduroy is worst at. This is cut like a trouser.

Kuon puts its Fanage corduroy into more than one garment and this is the trouser, cut for the cloth rather than against it.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton, made in Japan. Hand-dyed mid-wale corduroy woven in Hamamatsu. Loose cut through the leg with a gentle taper and a cropped inseam. Color: Olive. We describe no lining.

Fit notes

Loose through the thigh, tapered below the knee, and cropped at the inseam, so they run shorter than a standard trouser by design and are not meant to break on the shoe. Corduroy has weight and holds a shape, which means a loose cut in it stands rather than draping. Choose for the waist and the seat.

Styling

With the Fanage Corduroy Blazer, which is the same cloth in the same olive. With the Zip-Up Cotton Shirt tucked, or the Suminagashi Tee. With the Boro Double Ring Belt, since the crop and the belt are the two places this outfit shows anything.

Care

Brush with the pile rather than against it, which lifts the nap and takes out the flattening that sitting causes. Wash inside out and cold, and hang to dry rather than tumbling, which is what mats a corduroy permanently. Press from the reverse, never on the face. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Fanage Cotton/Nylon Track Trousers are Fanage in cotton and nylon, cut as a trouser, and the Seersucker Single Pleat Pants are a polyester and cotton seersucker. Everything we carry from Kuon is listed together.