Chef Pants｜Graphpaper
The day I was told it was the sixth pair.
The roots of chef pants lie in the work pants worn by French chefs.
"Originally, the pants worn by French chefs were workwear, and I think the technology to adjust the waist functionally was created to eliminate the range of sizes to some extent. There are probably big people and skinny people, and in workwear, you have to prepare a lot of sizes, so I think this function was created to prevent that. But instead of making it just like workwear, I thought it would be more convenient to make it more modern, and eliminating the concept of size is one of the brand's themes, so we have been continuously creating it."
We have been making them since the initial release. However, the current chef pants are not the same as when they were first released.
The turning point was a conversation with a customer.
"I happened to be at the store, and a customer said, 'Minami-san, this is my sixth pair.' I asked what they were doing with so many, and they said they actually wore them so much that the crotch tore."
The sixth pair. They liked them so much that they kept wearing them. But they tore.
That fact prompted the updates.
"At first, I made them 100% cotton because I didn't want them to be flashy, but I realized that without elasticity, the gusset would eventually tear. I changed the patterns, but to make them even more durable, I first added such functions to the fabric. Additionally, using techniques from outdoor wear, I made it possible to spread the legs by attaching the gusset firmly, which can distribute the load on the crotch area. Thanks to these technologies, these pants have now reached their final evolution."
Starting from 100% cotton, changing the patterns, adding functions to the fabric, and incorporating gusset technology. One person's "sixth pair" changed the pants themselves.
Mr. Minami reflects on that process.
"I try to accommodate what customers say as much as possible. I want to repeat updates like Apple products. Over the past ten years, it is not an exaggeration to say that we have created this together with our customers. It has become a co-creation that includes my own subjectivity."
For ten years, while continuously making the same item, it has not remained the same. The voices of customers have transformed the shape, and the technology has accumulated, resulting in the current chef pants.
——Excerpt from an interview with Graphpaper designer Takayuki Minami
Check out the Solotex Twill Chef Pants series here
The day I was told it was the sixth pair.
The roots of chef pants lie in the work pants worn by French chefs.
"Originally, the pants worn by French chefs were workwear, and I think the technology to adjust the waist functionally was created to eliminate the range of sizes to some extent. There are probably big people and skinny people, and in workwear, you have to prepare a lot of sizes, so I think this function was created to prevent that. But instead of making it just like workwear, I thought it would be more convenient to make it more modern, and eliminating the concept of size is one of the brand's themes, so we have been continuously creating it."
We have been making them since the initial release. However, the current chef pants are not the same as when they were first released.
The turning point was a conversation with a customer.
"I happened to be at the store, and a customer said, 'Minami-san, this is my sixth pair.' I asked what they were doing with so many, and they said they actually wore them so much that the crotch tore."
The sixth pair. They liked them so much that they kept wearing them. But they tore.
That fact prompted the updates.
"At first, I made them 100% cotton because I didn't want them to be flashy, but I realized that without elasticity, the gusset would eventually tear. I changed the patterns, but to make them even more durable, I first added such functions to the fabric. Additionally, using techniques from outdoor wear, I made it possible to spread the legs by attaching the gusset firmly, which can distribute the load on the crotch area. Thanks to these technologies, these pants have now reached their final evolution."
Starting from 100% cotton, changing the patterns, adding functions to the fabric, and incorporating gusset technology. One person's "sixth pair" changed the pants themselves.
Mr. Minami reflects on that process.
"I try to accommodate what customers say as much as possible. I want to repeat updates like Apple products. Over the past ten years, it is not an exaggeration to say that we have created this together with our customers. It has become a co-creation that includes my own subjectivity."
For ten years, while continuously making the same item, it has not remained the same. The voices of customers have transformed the shape, and the technology has accumulated, resulting in the current chef pants.
——Excerpt from an interview with Graphpaper designer Takayuki Minami
Check out the Solotex Twill Chef Pants series here