Rick Owens Astaires Cropped Trousers

Cropping a tailored trouser is easy to get wrong and there is only one variable. Too short and the garment announces that it has been shortened. Too long and it simply looks like a trouser that shrank. The correct length exposes the ankle deliberately and makes the shoe part of the outfit rather than the end of it, and it is a decision measured in centimetres.

The cloth is a virgin wool with four percent elastane, which is a considered concession rather than a compromise. Pure worsted wool holds a crease beautifully and bags at the knee by the afternoon. The small percentage of elastane gives the fabric enough recovery to come back into shape through a working day without changing the hand of the wool or the way it takes a press.

Forest is the reason we bought this pair rather than the black. It is a green dark enough to function as a neutral and saturated enough to be visibly a colour in daylight, and it does something with brown leather and with bone knitwear that no black trouser can.

Why we selected it

We are asked constantly for a trouser that is smarter than denim and less committed than a suit, and this is the pair we hand over. The crop makes it modern without making it a statement, and the colour means the customer who owns four pairs of black trousers has a reason to own a fifth pair of something.

Materials and construction

Ninety-six percent virgin wool and four percent elastane. Made in Italy, in Forest. Cropped length.

Fit notes

Cropped, so the length is fixed and the hem is the point; it is not a trouser to have shortened further. The elastane means it will feel closer than a pure wool of the same size and will hold that fit through the day rather than relaxing. Take your usual trouser size.

Styling

With a low shoe or a boot with visible shaft, because the crop is there to show what is underneath. With a knit tucked or a shirt out. Forest against black, against bone, or against brown leather. It is a better trouser with a heavier shoe than with a delicate one.

Care

Wool wants brushing more than cleaning. Hang it full length from the waistband, brush it down after wearing, and dry clean rarely rather than routinely; elastane in a blend is degraded by heat, so keep it away from a hot press. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

Related pieces

We would point to the Pantaloni – Wide Astaire, the Cargobelas Trousers, and the SS26 Tailored Geth. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.