Massimo Alba Karly Trousers

Two details decide a wide linen trouser and both of them are at the waist. The pleats release cloth at the top, so the leg starts full rather than widening on the way down, which is the difference between a trouser that hangs in a column and one that flares. The side pockets, set into the seam rather than cut across the front, leave the plane between the pleats unbroken, so there is nothing interrupting the fall of the cloth where the eye goes first. Linen does the rest: no elasticity, real weight at the hem, so it drops straight and stays dropped, and it creases from the first hour in a way that reads as the cloth rather than as carelessness. Beige is the correct colour for it, warm enough to sit against white without going grey and quiet enough to leave the shape as the only thing happening.

Wide linen trousers are everywhere and most of them are cut too light and too straight, so they finish the day looking slept in rather than lived in. The pleats and the weight of the cloth are why we took this pair.

One hundred percent linen. Wide leg, front pleats, side pockets. Colour: Beige.

Cut wide by design, so sizing down fights the pattern and loses the column. Linen has no give, so take the size you can sit in rather than the one that looks best standing still. Length matters more on a wide leg than on any other shape: it wants to break cleanly at the shoe or fall past it, and nothing in between reads as intended. It will relax across a day and return with washing.

With the Pamela shirt tucked, which uses the waist. Under the Stromboli jacket in Grape. With the Selma shirt half-tucked for the least formal version. Flat shoes or a low heel.

Wash cool and hang to dry. Linen softens with every wash, so wash it freely. Press damp if you want a crease, and accept that the crease is temporary. Our linen care guidance covers the rest.

The Lois Trouser in Wood and the Lois Trousers in Bianco are the high-waisted linen. The Pamela Shirt is the cotton shirt, the Selma Shirt is the linen one, and the Stromboli Jacket is the jacket. There is more on the house on the Massimo Alba designer page. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.