Nicholas Daley Track Pant

The side stripe on a track pant is one of the very few pieces of design that survived intact from sportswear into everything else, and it exists for a reason that has nothing to do with sport: a vertical band down the outside of the leg makes the leg read as longer and the whole garment as more deliberate. Almost every track pant on earth uses a plain woven tape for it. Daley uses a jacquard grid, meaning the pattern is woven into the panel on a loom that controls each warp thread individually, so the stripe has a structure inside it rather than being a coloured strip.

The rest follows the same logic of small upgrades to a familiar object. Contrast piping outlines the seams, which is a shirtmaker’s detail rather than a sportswear one. The house initials are embroidered at the back rather than printed at the hip. The colour is a dark chocolate against a red jacquard, which is a considerably more adult pairing than the category usually manages. It is made in Portugal on a small percentage of elastane, so it holds its shape.

Why we selected it

We took this because it is a track pant somebody actually designed, and because dark brown is the right answer to a category that defaults to black and grey. It is the piece we would put on someone who wants comfort and does not want to look like they gave up.

Nicholas Daley’s knitted and jersey pieces are where the house’s ideas arrive at their most wearable.

Materials and construction

Sixty percent cotton, thirty-nine percent polyester, and one percent elastane. Made in Portugal. Contrast piping, jacquard grid print panels at the sides, ND embroidered at the back. Colours: dark chocolate and red jacquard.

Fit notes

A track pant cut, so it will be easier through the hip and leg than any tailored trouser he cuts. The elastane means it recovers rather than bagging at the knee, so what it is on the first wearing is roughly what it stays. Take your usual size.

Styling

With the Waffle Rollneck in chocolate, tonally, which is the best version of this. With the Waffle Crew Neck in black. It does not want a tartan anywhere near it, which is unusual in this house.

Care

Wash cool and hang to dry. The polyester and elastane content means heat is the enemy rather than water: a hot dryer degrades elastane permanently and the trouser loses its recovery. Do not tumble dry. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Waffle Roll Neck in chocolate is the knit in the same brown. The Hooded Pullover is the hooded layer made in England, and the Crew Neck Waffle in black the plain waffle. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.