Much ado about cargo shorts: How this 1990s staple suddenly sparked an online fashion debate

Before we denounce this quick-fix social media-obsessed generation for making everything “trend”, we must discuss this ’90s staple and if at all it deserves the attention it’s getting. Created in the ’40s in the US for soldiers to store ammunition, it peaked in the grime music era of the ’90s. Thousands of miles away, here, in India, cargo shorts are sold shamelessly in bulk at Sarojini Nagar shops and high-end stores in malls alike. “I have never owned a pair, I have never designed one either, and I never will. They are ugly, and if you have to carry things, get a bag,” says designer Troy Costa.

Once the WSJ article went viral, its author was bombarded with emails from men who justify them, and women who detest them. Most talk about how comfortable they are and how much bulk these cargo shorts can carry, making bags pointless. “No one gives a shit. If people are buying it, it’s the right product. This snob mentality has to go. Also, if you like it, wear it,” says designer Anand Bhushan.

Over decades, denims changed, as did the dinner jacket. Somewhere in the midst of its casual appeal, the cargo shorts stayed back in the ’90s, and forgot to evolve. “It’s really a lifestyle, it’s comfort clothing which is very important. But I’d rather men wear drop crotch jersey pants now instead of cargo pants. They are still ugly and shabby, make it more aesthetically pleasing and its appeal will change,” says designer Gaurav Gupta. Apart from comfort, it’s also nostalgia that makes us cling on to things, trends and people that rightfully belonged to a different decade. “I am a ’90s kid too and they’re considered cool back then, so I understand why people still wear it. A lot of people were skeptical about ’80s fashion but look around, it’s everywhere now,” says designer Arjun Saluja.

The debate will die soon, as all social media debates always do, but the cargo shorts are here to stay. And if an international feud has to happen on menswear, the targets are plenty – from buttcrack revealing baggy jeans, ill-fitted fedoras, tight tees to Hawaiian floral shirts anywhere but the beach and shiny shirts at weddings. Debate the burden of their existence, and let the poor cargo shorts. It’s time to make peace with them, and move on.