Mao Shan Wang

I always turn to Japanese brands when I want something unexpected, especially in a pair of pants. This, by Kolor, appears, at first, to be a twofer, but is actually a pair of (smaller) cotton chinos split at the crotch and then spliced to a pair of wool slacks, giving the impression of conjoined fraternal twins. Okay, that’s a little OTT, but you get what I am trying to say.

Kolor’s Junichi Abe, one-time pattern maker at Junya Watanabe, has an adroit way with different fabric textures appearing in a singular/one-use garment, as exemplified in this pair of pants. There’s the casualness of the chino half and the dressiness of the Prince of Wales check of the other—odd couple that bed well.

What I especially like is the generous cut or, more precisely, the roominess of the fit, which means it’s likely to be fat-shamed by the jegging and her friends. I have cast aside skin-tight pants since the low-rise lost favour among fans of slacks. Even my jeans are baggy enough to store two chickens in each leg, as my mother would say. In this pair, it is roomy but not ‘hipsy’, which is a definite plus.

This Kolor trousers is partially lined (to the knee), which enhances the comfort factor, since wearing wool in our weather may be pricklier than sleeping in a bag of pine cones. If you are tall enough, the pants is calf-length, but I like it better when it reaches mere centimetres above the ground. Or, just two. Yes, fastidious I am.

Kolor two-panel trousers, SGD960, is available at Club 21, Forum The Shopping Mall. Photo: Farfetch