Navy Cargo Hakama Pants 'Nando'

Navy wide-leg trousers in the hakama shape, with two big cargo pockets and a drawstring

Take the width of a hakama and give it pockets. These trousers fall from a soft drawstring waist in a straight, wide leg to the ankle, with the volume of the samurai's divided skirt and none of the ceremony, and on each thigh there is a large cargo pocket with a flap, the size of a hand and a phone. The cloth is a navy cotton with a slub in the weave. That is the whole design, and it is a good one.

It is the piece for someone who wants the silhouette of Japanese trousers and the habits of a pair of cargos, and it manages both without looking like either was borrowed.

The name, Nando, is an old Japanese colour name, the greyed navy of the storeroom, the closet where the good cloth was kept, and the trousers are that blue.

The cloth is cotton with a dry, slightly slubbed hand, chosen because trousers this wide need weight to swing and air to breathe, and cotton gives both. It washes cold, hangs, and softens with every wash.

Wear them with a white tee tucked or loose, as in the photograph, and white trainers, which is the outfit they were photographed in and the one they are best in. A black tee in the evening. A jacket over the top and they become the trousers of a suit that never existed.

The waist is a soft band with a drawstring, so it sits where you tie it and does not dig. The legs are cut straight from the hip, without a taper, so they swing when you walk. The pockets are the only thing that interrupts the line, and they are the thing you will use.

From across a street they are wide navy trousers with a pocket on each leg. From close the slub shows in the weave, the drawstring shows its cord, and the pocket flaps show their stitching. They are trousers you can put your hands in and still look like you meant the outfit.

The hakama it borrows from was cut wide so a man could sit on his heels and draw a sword; these are cut wide so you can sit on a train and get up without thinking. The width has changed jobs, and it still has one.

It goes with grey, white, black and any blue paler than itself. It does not go with another wide trouser in the same room, but it will not meet one.

Sizes run from M to 5XL. It is cut to Asian sizing and runs small, so take one size up from your usual. Between two sizes, take the larger.