Giant Chinos Are Good Business
Perhaps you’ve heard: giant chinos are big money. Plenty of trends never make it beyond the runways that birthed them, but chinos of a certain proportion—sometimes pleated, often high-waisted, but always wide-legged—are everywhere right now. Which is fitting, since it was a mall brand stalwart that helped usher in their dominance. Last year, Brendon Babenzien, the men’s creative director for J.Crew, kicked off his tenure with a look book that stoked a frenzy of chatter online. Front and center? The cheekily-dubbed Giant Fit chinos, a silhouette that harks back to the brand’s ‘90s-era catalog heyday. When the first crop of gargantuan trousers hit stores a few months later, people didn’t just like them—they went absolutely bananas for them, and a star (or at least a surprise best-seller) was born.
Now every other brand worth its weight in dense cotton-twill fabric is carving up a slice of the Giant Chino market, too. Which is music to our ears! Chinos have always been the pants of the people, a classic-leaning jeans alternative that aren’t nearly as fussy as suit trousers. They look just as good picked off the floor on laundry day as they do fresh from the dry cleaners, and with chunky dad sneakers, lug-sole loafers, and sturdy hiking boots all in high-demand, chinos with a little (okay, a lot) more fabric are exactly what you need to balance out all that bulk.
Below, we rounded up 17 big, beautiful pairs to help you hop aboard the Giant Chinos Express. The train might be moving fast, but don’t worry—there’s plenty of room for everyone to hitch a ride.
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