Good slacks are flat.
Wide-leg trousers can suddenly look sloppy if you get them even slightly wrong.
They have width.
They also have presence.
But that alone is not enough.
Good evening. I am Matsushima from cantáte.
There is a pair of trousers this season that I have been looking forward to more than anything—perhaps the most.
<cantáte>
"Proper Tailored Trousers"
¥148,500 TAX IN
A very wide pair made from High-Density Merino Gabardine.
The first thing I want you to look at is neither the fabric nor the sewing.
The center crease.
This single line determines almost the entire character of these trousers.
The crease was not added at the end.
Ordinary trousers have their center crease pressed in after the garment is completed.
But this time, we did not do that.
We shape the fabric before cutting, then cut it only after setting the crease at that stage.
From there, we move on to sewing.
In other words, this is not a line added to tidy the appearance after completion, but one built into the trousers from the very beginning.
That is why they return to it after walking, sitting, or moving.
They are not merely folded; it feels as though the trousers themselves remember that position.
They should be so thin and flat that you would not notice unless it was pointed out.
Also, it is actually difficult to make trousers that fold neatly and thinly.
Without bulging or twisting in odd places, they settle smoothly and flat simply by aligning the front and back creases.
Trousers that fold neatly into a flat, clean shape are good trousers.
This is not simply a matter of being skilled with the final pressing.
This is because we carefully shape the fabric before cutting, arranging it so that it settles where it should.
Trousers with insufficient shaping can develop excess fullness toward the hem, making them look almost flared despite being wide.
But if you are making wide trousers, they must properly look wide; otherwise, there is no point.
If you ordered gyudon and oyakodon arrived instead, you would not be happy, would you?
If you order cola and oolong tea comes out, that would be a problem.
Clothing is the same.
If they are wide, they should fall beautifully as wide trousers.
To make that seemingly obvious quality work, the fabric must be carefully shaped.
They have a three-dimensional shape when worn, yet become flat when removed and folded.
At first glance, it seems obvious, but it is difficult to achieve properly.
The center crease this time follows the same principle.
It is not that we want to leave only a strong line.
As a result of properly shaping the trousers as a whole, the crease naturally returns to that position.
You can clearly feel this difference when wearing them.
Wide-leg trousers contain more fabric, so their movement is also more pronounced.
That is precisely why the way they look changes so much when a single, distinct line remains within them.
Wide, yet never vague.
Relaxed, yet looking refined.
That is the balance I wanted to achieve this time.
Of course, it cannot work with lines alone.
We started with the fabric in order to create this silhouette.
A 2/1 gabardine made entirely from carefully selected Merino wool yarns for both the warp and weft.
They are woven at high density on low-speed looms.
When people hear “gabardine,” some may picture something sharp and slightly rigid.
But what I wanted this time was not stiffness,
They have a moderate degree of body while still draping properly.
They have a slight resilience to the touch, yet when worn, they fall downward with gravity.
We are aiming for that boundary.
These trousers are quite wide, so if the fabric is too soft, they will simply look spread out.
Conversely, if it is too stiff, the silhouette stands too rigidly and becomes heavy.
We adjusted the weave density again and again.
It has the density needed to make this width look beautiful.
It would not work if it were merely heavy, nor if it were too soft.
This is an indulgent fabric that refuses to compromise on either body or drape.
The reason it is garment-dyed is that we wanted to create depth when it was tailored.
Rather than placing color on the surface, it feels as though depth is given to the fabric itself.
The interior construction is quite traditional as well.
The extra-wide waistband and box pleats are secured by hand, creating a gentle, comfortable fit.
The curtain waistband is hand-sewn.
Unlike a machine, which tightens with an upper and lower thread, hand sewing uses a single thread, so the stitches do not become hard and finish softly.
We want the curtain waistband to be as thin as possible.
That is why the seam allowances are not layered, but finished with a clean-cut edge.
Turnback-seam belt loops, taco attachments, and scissor attachments.
Once you understand this difference and its purpose, you've officially joined the ranks of the true trouser obsessives.
The base of the pleat is cut on an angle so that a finger cannot reach all the way inside.
It may seem like very little, but the shadows created in the pleats are completely different.
The buffalo-horn buttons are sewn on by hand. The bartacks are secured by hand as well.
The center-back seam has a slit for a reason.
And with hand-worked bar tacks, marks are less likely to remain after alterations.
These details are designed not only for appearance, but also with long-term wear and alterations in mind.
A custom extra-wide waistband. The curtain waistband is hand-basted.
Hand pick stitching on the fly front. The belt loops are made with a turnback seam.
Parts like these are almost impossible to see from the outside.
But these details contribute to how neatly they sit when worn and how resistant they are to losing their shape, wear after wear.
I'm not particularly interested in clothes that are impressive only where they can be seen.
More than anything, it's about how many reasons there are in the unseen parts.
I believe that is where you can see how long the maker intends you to wear the garment.
These trousers are the same.
There are no flashy details.
But everything has a purpose.
When making these trousers, I was thinking about how to make a wide silhouette look beautiful.
but rather, they're good because they're wide.
Not that,
They're wide, yet somehow refined.
That's how far I wanted to take it.
For that purpose, we gave the fabric body, retained its drape, properly supported the shape from within, and finally ran a single line through it.
No, it wasn't the final step.
In fact, the line was there from the very beginning.
The center crease is that central to these trousers.
You can wear a T-shirt as well.
Knitwear works too.
You can tuck in a shirt and wear leather shoes.
No matter how relaxed you are, a slight sense of tension remains on the trouser side.
That's why the whole outfit doesn't become sloppy.
I like clothes like this now.
In the past, when I saw wide trousers, I would simply think, "They're wide," and leave it at that.
There was a time when that alone was good enough.
But as you spend more time making clothes, you gradually become interested in what lies beyond that.
Why does this width look so good?
Why is it that some pairs of wide trousers have refinement while others don't?
There probably isn't just one answer.
The fabric, the pattern, and the construction are all necessary.
But when it comes to these trousers, I think that line is the center crease.
Within the width, there is a single line.
They become three-dimensional when worn, yet settle neatly and flat when folded.
There are very few trousers left that, like these, have their tendencies carefully worked out before cutting, their creases formed, and are then sewn on the basis of that shape.
The double-welt pockets are made by hand as well.
That is why the welt does not form stair-step ridges, and the opening does not gape even without a button.
Because they are tailored by carefully working out the fabric's natural tendencies by hand, everything settles naturally where it should.
Put simply, it's an endangered species.
It takes effort, and it takes time.
What's more, most of it is invisible.
And yet, we do it.
If you're making trousers that look genuinely good when worn, I don't think you can cut corners there.
If they're wide, they look properly wide.
When folded, they settle neatly and flat.
but because the fundamentals are properly carried out as fundamentals.
I don't think trousers like that are "good trousers" simply because they are that kind of trousers,
Only then do I consider them trousers.
cantáte Matsushima Shin
