When I was younger, my mum taught me how to iron trousers - or as she’d call them in our home, pantalon in Tagalog. The two front pleats were folded right down to the hem, ironed, and then hung on a hanger in the same folded position. Just a small memory in the scheme of things, but one that I always remember. And it was on a walk when this memory popped up and the idea of calling my brand Pantalon felt just right. Other than being a great word, it is an homage to my Filipino background, borrowed from the Spanish pantalón. It’s also the word for trousers in several other languages and made sense for the way I was designing and developing the first piece of clothing; simple and flattering pants.
The first thing my patternmaker told me when I met him was that I had picked the most difficult piece of clothing to design. And I knew even once we developed the trouser that it still wouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all for women. But the pursuit of my vision was still worth it, because the initial inspiration never changed: it’s just always hard to find good pants.
Before I started Pantalon, I saw the process of sourcing good pants like 'swallowing the frog'; the most difficult task of the day that should be completed before you do any other work. Applied to the wardrobe, this means that sourcing good, well fitting pants - whether denim or trousers - was more difficult than any other garment, but it always had to be done first before the rest of the wardrobe. This theory carried into the way I started building the brand, and inspired the key features I wanted in a pair of trousers. Some of these features have been discussed in earlier newsletters, but in total my design ideas were built around the following attributes; a mid-rise, a narrow waistband, room through the hip and leg to create a relaxed fit but not a baggy fit, and lastly - lightweight fabric with a good drape. Just like classic 501s, trousers are the uniform of the wardrobe.
Dressing starts with a good pair of trousers.
