WHAT IS A CHINO?

Chino was originally a military garment during the colonial period. While English troops occupied almost the entirety of present-day India, Sir Harry Lumsden, a British army officer, decided in 1846 to dye the military uniforms which were at that time white in Khaki (or khaki), a local term. meaning “dust”

Uncertainty remains over whether this was then a tactical decision to try to camouflage the soldiers or a practical decision to make the uniforms less messy. In any case, the first Chinos, which did not yet have this name, were Khaki in color.

Khaki was made official a few years later in 1884. At that time it still represented military clothing pants and was adopted as regulatory dress by all troops in India, then throughout the British Empire before being adopted as the standard color by many armies around the world.