Rick Owens Cargobelas Trousers

The cargo trouser belongs to cotton. That is where it came from, that is where it has stayed, and it is why almost every cargo on the market is a variation on the same canvas or ripstop. Cutting one in one hundred percent virgin wool is a category error committed deliberately, and it is what makes this trouser interesting.

Wool changes what the pockets do. On cotton, a cargo pocket sits out from the leg with a stiff edge and reads as equipment. In a wool of this weight the pocket falls against the thigh and moves with the leg, so the detail is legible without being militaristic. The silhouette lengthens for the same reason: wool drapes where cotton stands, so a trouser with this much pocket on it still reads as a long clean line rather than as a collection of parts.

Bean is a warm mid-neutral with brown in it rather than grey, which is the harder of the two to place and the more rewarding one. It sits against black without the flatness of charcoal and against cream without the starkness of navy.

A wool cargo is exactly the kind of thing we look for: a familiar garment rebuilt in a material that has no business being there, done well enough that the joke stops being a joke. Practically, it means a customer can wear a cargo trouser in a context that would ordinarily rule one out, and that is a genuinely useful thing to own rather than a clever one.

One hundred percent virgin wool. Made in Italy, in Bean. Cargo-inspired pocket detailing on an elongated leg.

Pure wool with no elastane, so it will relax slightly through the day and recover when it rests, and it will not stretch to accommodate a size it was not cut for. The cargo pockets add real volume at the thigh, which is intentional and should not be sized out. Cut long and lean below the knee.

With a boot, a plain knit, and nothing else competing. Bean is the sort of colour that makes an all-black outfit look considered rather than default. We would not put a technical jacket over it; the point of a wool cargo is that it is not that.

Brush it, hang it full length, and air it between wearings; wool asks for far less cleaning than most people give it. Dry clean when it genuinely needs it rather than on a schedule. Our care guidance covers the general principles.

We would point to the Cargo Long, the F/W 25 Stefan Cargo, the SS26 Geth Cargo, and the Cut Off Mini in the same virgin wool. Everything we currently hold from Rick Owens is listed together.