BEAMS and Gramicci Rework Cargo Shorts with Tie-Dye Texture

BEAMS and Gramicci took a hard-working climbing short and gave it a gentler surface. The Waffle Cargo Shorts were built from an original cargo-short pattern, keep Gramicci’s webbing belt and gusseted crotch, and trade the usual technical shine for waffle fabric with a textured, soft feel. They arrived in two tie-dye colorways, BLACK × GREIGE and D.BROWN × GREEN, priced at ¥19,800, and went on sale May 2 at BEAMS label stores nationwide and on the BEAMS official online shop.

That balance is exactly why the piece works. The cargo shape and roomy volume still carry the blunt usefulness of outdoor gear, but the waffle finish makes the short look less like kit and more like clothing with a point of view. It is the kind of update that can move beyond the trail and into a creative studio, where a garment has to read easy, not earnest. The function is still visible, but the surface is softer, and that makes all the difference.

The collaboration also makes sense on brand history alone. Gramicci says it has been making functional clothing since 1982, with roots in Yosemite climbing culture and a garage in Ventura, California, where Mike Graham created the first true climbing shorts. BEAMS says the company was founded in 1976, and its Harajuku flagship is where the brand began. Put those two lineages together and the result is a familiar one: utility clothing filtered through streetwear taste.

What makes these shorts compelling is not reinvention, but restraint. The webbing belt, gusseted construction and cargo pockets still do the practical work, while the tie-dye waffle texture keeps the silhouette from feeling too blunt or too outdoorsy. At ¥19,800, they are not basic shorts, and they were never meant to be. They are a cleaner, more polished version of technical wear, the sort that looks strongest with a tee and sneakers now, and with a smarter layer later.