After my first column on black clad Berliners, here is number two. It has started on a U-Bahn. I was going to football training with my son and these four kids got on board. Dressed in black and white (trousers) they looked like members of some gang that I’ve never heard of. You rarely see a group of boys following a trend with that discipline and they were eager to be photographed. Funny enough they seemed surprised to realize that they coordinated their styles to this extent.

I’ve always associated white trousers with styles that you see at Pitti Uomo in Florence. Crisp and elegant, they would go along with a luxe camel coat and suede shoes. Sort of a bold statement as in “I am so detached from regular life, that I can wear white trousers in rain, hale and snow.” The group of teenage commuters has triggered something and from that moment on I started noticing white pants everywhere, in situations that don’t have too much to do with Italian elegance but more Berliner Alltag.

Putting this story together I was hoping to take a funny picture of white pants covered in mud stains. Did not happen. It turns out that they don’t get dirty that easily. They are quite practical after all.