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Purpose Built
Call them chinos or call them khakis. They have a history that explains why they’re as essential now as they ever were.Purpose-Built
Call them chinos or call them khakis. They have a history that explains why they’re as essential now as they ever were.![](/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-RalphLauren_EU_Library/default/dw91594afb/rlmag/images/Magazine-Issues/2024/05-May/purpose-built-chino/INSERT1.jpg)
There may exist some Platonic ideal of the perfect chino: a combination of fabric, fit, and detailing that captures the spirit of the garment in its truest, most desirable form. Perhaps it’s their historical starting point as 19th-century military trousers of the British Indian Army, which were extra loose-fitting to accommodate the punishing subcontinental heat, dyed tan to match the surrounding terrain, and named after the Urdu word khaki, meaning “soil-colored.”
But for Ralph Lauren, the chino isn’t an idealized design frozen in amber—it’s a canvas, customized countless times in new renditions from new inspirations over the years, each iteration unique and stylish in its own right. Consider the belted-and-pleated “Gurkha” chino, which shares the original’s Indo-military provenance. Or American military chinos, which spread from standard-issue to civilian sportswear after the Spanish–American war. Or historical workwear designs, with hard-wearing riveted buttons and carpenter details. You’ll find chinos in generous double pleats, or slim-straight flat fronts. Woven in heavy rustic twills with double-needle details to wear with work boots, or a finer weave with single-needle stitching better suited to a pair of penny loafers. Each has a unique vintage provenance, and each serves a different style purpose.
![<strong>Men of the Cloth</strong><br /> <span >From top left: James Dean on the set of <em>East of Eden</em>; Hemingway at work while on safari in Kenya, 1953; Woody Allen in <em>Annie Hall</em>; Steve McQueen; a scene from the movie <em>School Ties</em>.</span >](/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-RalphLauren_EU_Library/default/dw27169655/rlmag/images/Magazine-Issues/2024/05-May/purpose-built-chino/INSERT2.jpg)
From top left: James Dean on the set of East of Eden; Hemingway at work while on safari in Kenya, 1953; Woody Allen in Annie Hall; Steve McQueen; a scene from the movie School Ties.
All of which is to say: There may be no such thing as a single, perfect chino design, even for a perfectionist like Ralph. But among this season’s salt-washed, sun-faded, Key West–inspired heritage wear, you’ll find one of our favorite iterations.
The Big Chino is the spiritual successor to a Polo legend: the oft imitated but never replicated Big Fit chinos from the ’90s, whose extra-high rise and generous wide leg feels perfectly current three decades later. Made with a rustic and slubby twill weave, they’re washed for a slightly crunchy hand feel reminiscent of vintage versions and feature a few subtle details adapted from vintage nautical chinos: a custom woven label at the interior waistband, tin riveted buttons, and extra-wide belt loops.
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Two seasonal versions of the style capture the coastal seaside aesthetic of Ralph’s vision for the spring. First is a paint-splattered pair with hand-applied color and subtle whiskering, à la Jackson Pollock throwing paint around his breezy Hamptons studio. The second is a vintage-inspired distressed pair with darning details and patch repairs, reminiscent of a Florida Keys fisherman tacking the fishhook tears and worn-through sections of his favorite pair.
Choose whichever speaks to your lifestyle—whether real or imagined.