Massimo Alba Winch2 Trousers

Corduroy is defined by its wale, the count of ridges across an inch of cloth. Broad wale is a hunting trouser: heavy, textured, and unmistakably rural. Baby corduroy runs the ridges close and shallow, and at that scale the cloth stops announcing itself as corduroy at all. What you see from across a street is a soft, dense trouser with a faint directional sheen, because the pile catches light along its length. It is only up close that the cord resolves.

That is the whole reason this trouser works in a wardrobe where a broad wale would not. Cut slim with welt pockets set flat into the cloth, in Alluminio, a grey with the metal in the name and in the colour, it belongs under a tailored jacket as easily as with a sweater. Cord also does something no flat-woven trouser does: the pile flattens where it is worn, at the knee and the seat, so the trouser slowly acquires a record of the person wearing it. On a fine wale that reads as a soft sheen rather than as damage.

These are also the trousers that introduced this house to a lot of people who had never heard of it. Daniel Craig wore Alba corduroys in No Time to Die, and the association has stuck to the model ever since. It is a strange route to a reputation for a designer this reticent, and it does not change what the trouser is.

Why we selected it

If there is one thing to start with from this house, it is this trouser. It solves the problem almost every man over forty has, which is a trouser that is not denim, not a chino, and not part of a suit.

The Winch2 is the trouser Massimo Alba is best known for, and it is where the house’s habit of making one quiet decision very carefully is easiest to see.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton baby corduroy, made in Italy. Slim fit, welt pockets. Colour: Alluminio.

Fit notes

Slim through the leg without being narrow at the ankle. Cotton corduroy has some give and relaxes at the knee across a day of wearing, then comes back in the wash, so a pair that feels precise in the morning and easy by evening is behaving normally. Take your usual size. The pile means the cloth reads slightly fuller on the leg than a flat cotton of the same weight.

Styling

Under the Baglietto in Caffe, which is the version that makes the case for it. With the Larry crewneck in dark green or the Persico in Lava. With the Lars shirt worn open. Boots or a real shoe; a fine cord deserves better than a sneaker.

Care

Wash cool and inside out, and hang to dry. Keep them out of a hot dryer, which is what crushes the pile on a fine wale and takes the sheen with it. Brush the pile back in one direction after washing. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Ionio2 Trouser in Caffe is the plain cotton, the Stan Cotton Trouser is the double-pleated cotton, and the Agone2 Shorts are the same cloth cut for women. The Oceano Jean is the selvedge denim, and the Baglietto Jacket is the wool jacket. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.