No longer preppy or out-of-date: ‘Dad pants’ are back

Rarely has a meme managed to synthesize more accurately a generational aesthetic shift. A few days ago, social media users began to post comparisons between what millennials and Gen Z consider “dad pants,” and, by extension, what garments are strictly prohibited from their wardrobes. Beyond the eternal struggle between adjacent generations, the images certify, once again, that the skinny jean is dead. A few years ago, social media users scorned the wide-leg jean with New Balance sneakers, a symbol of outdated aesthetic tastes. Now, an entire generation laughs at skinny jeans. One scathing critique points out the silhouette that the garment creates on wearers above 30.

The skinny jean has fallen from grace. Meanwhile, khakis have left behind their preppy, conservative image. They are the new streetwear alternative to jeans. Champions of minimalist style have reclaimed the classic pleated version, albeit with added bagginess. Such styles can be seen in the collections of the Japanese house Still by Hand and the French Officine Générale, as well as Off-White, the totem of urban trends. Beyond the well-known cyclical nature of fashion, the inversion of roles isn’t a coincidence. Luxury and streetwear has become a two-way street.

From the Ivy League to the streets

Despite its reputation, khaki pants do not have particularly exclusive origins. It was created as a long-lasting, comfortable garment for soldiers in British colonies in the 19th century. During the 1940s, students at the United States’ most exclusive universities began wearing them, and they became part of the preppy imaginary. More formal than jeans, but just as comfortable, an outfit of khakis and a button-down, polo or v-neck sweater came to symbolize old money and good connections. Film helped spread that image. In the forties and fifties, stars like James Dean, Marlon Brando and Paul Newman wore khakis. In the eighties, they appeared on Tom Cruise in Risky Business and Ferris Bueller’s preppy friend — played by Alan Ruck, now better known as Connor Roy in Succession — in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The khaki has maintained its tight-laced image for decades. It is appropriate for occasions that don’t quite call for a suit. At the same time, subcultures with little to do with polo and lacrosse began to reclaim it. “Chinos began to be worn a little bit in the nineties, mostly because of the popularity of skateboarding,” explains Oscar Gala, founder of Mini Shop Madrid, a shop that has been a staple of the capital’s streetwear scene for two decades. “For skating, you need comfortable, durable pants that you can wear 24 hours a day.” The oversized chino entered the global urban imaginary through Larry Clark’s 1995 film Kids: one of the characters takes advantage of his baggy pants to steal drinks from a store.

“Many of us who grew up in the nineties, who were kids then, now have important positions in the industry,” Gala continues. “For example Brendon Babenzien, from the brand Noah, who was one of the most influential designers from Supreme, who in the nineties was starting to design influenced by brands like Stüssy, Polo Ralph Lauren and The Duffer of St. George, a key English brand that later closed. Now he is 50 and he is a successful, influential figure. Just like him, the head of buying at Dover Street Market and many high-level directors of big companies grew up with that language and are now in a position to dictate the trends.”

Beyond skate culture, music had a key role in giving chinos street cred. At the end of the eighties, the gangsta rap group N.W.A. adopted black chinos, bringing the garment to hip-hop culture. In the late 2000s, Kanye West adopted the preppy student style, allowing guides like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, as the trend of extra-wide pants reached its end. Khakis had entered streetwear culture through the back door. “Pleated pants, which have always been part of our shop, used to be hard to sell because of that association with conservatism, but now people want them and buy them,” Gala confirms.

Reinventing a classic

“The pleated chino is associated with a classic, but in my head it’s not part of a conservative adult wardrobe,” says designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo. His brand, Palomo Spain, has reinvented the chino through new eyes in collections like Tiburón. “Despite the fact that I consider myself a maximalist designer, I always start from the classics, and I think the chino can be a totally contemporary question.” He is one of the designers who have brought the garment to the runway, convinced of its power as an atemporal symbol.

“The perception of them has definitely changed,” he explains. “Knowing how to use the classics has become a symbol of good taste and modernity. Because of the abuse of skinny jeans, today, it’s stylish and modern to wear chino pants that we used to associate with a more classic, dad-like style. Now it has become a modern garment, taking into account that almost all fathers wear stretchy skinny jeans.” Palomo believes in the reinvention of chinos. “I have worn them with a gray trench, giving them a little more width, or with houndstooth, and I’ve also made versions with the ass open. I like having those classics in my collections and playing with them.”

Another way to take the pulse of a garment is to see who is wearing it. The pleated chino has become a staple for sports stars and film personalities. Brad Pitt, David Beckham and Ryan Reynolds all wear them. But though the skinny jean has moved on, denim is not yet dead. “Now we’re thinking about denim again,” says Oscar Gala. “You go to Bershka and there aren’t any jeans, just cargo pants. But look at Louis Vuitton’s collection with Pharrell and how many denim pieces it had, or the last two Kenzo seasons with Nigo. Denim is around the corner again.”

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