For sale here is a pair of pants from Wtaps, in this case their spring-summer 2014 “concrete environment” collection. Wtaps is pretty interesting in the Japanese fashion world, as they straddle a number of different points. They specialize in a lot of re-purposed military wear, for example, but at the same time appeal to a lot of the “street fashion” that made a lot of Japanese labels famous in the 1990s and early 2000s. They’ve put out preppy American-inspired collections, biker-inspired wear, traditional British clothing, and any number of other subgroups have also been given attention. They also have their own unique design sensibility that makes all of these elements work. Wtaps has consequently garnered a large cult following in Japan (and abroad) arguably eclipsing their parent label Neighborhood.
So the theme for the “concrete environment” season was to re-purpose urban street wear, updating both quality and fit. These pants are a case in point, where Wtaps have updated the fit and materials of a classic pair of work chinos. Material is a 65% polyester / 35% cotton blend, typical of work pants. Fabric nicely breathable, resilient and light in feel. It is chock full of the details Wtaps likes to incorporate. These include zip fly with a branded zipper, branded button on the waistband and rear pocket, red tab on the left leg, interior woven tag and an additional woven patch on the rear.
Wtaps pants in this style typically retail around $400 outside of Japan. As always, availability is very limited, with these only going to a handful of retailers and selling out quickly. Get it here at a much more reasonable price.
Size is labeled “Mike” for medium. I measure the waist at 32”, inseam at 30”, rise at 10” and opening at the bottom of the leg at 7.25”. As noted on the tag, this is a fairly slim fitting pair of pants. They come in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears or stains. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $30.