Every linen wardrobe needs one garment that does not have to be thought about. For many men it is a pair of trousers: the pair that goes with every shirt in the bag, that looks right on a terrace at noon and at a table at ten, and that never asks for a second opinion. In the PP collection, that role belongs to the PP Trousers 100% Linen. This guide sets out what they are, how the two colourways behave, and how they are worn.

The name is a statement of content. The PP Trousers 100% Linen are made entirely of linen, with nothing blended in, and they close with walnut buttons, the natural button PP uses on its linen trousers and shorts. They are handmade, like every PP garment, and they come in men's sizes from M to 4XL, with the size chart on the product page as the reference for fit. They sit alongside the PP Casual Linen Trousers, offered in five colourways, and the PP Trousers 100% Cotton.

There are two colourways, and each does a different job. White is the summer classic: luminous in sun, clean against tanned skin, at its finest by the sea and on white-walled islands. It shows the texture of the linen clearly, the natural slubs and the soft surface of the weave, which is part of its appeal. On the PP men's collection page it is paired with the Laos Linen Shirt in White as a complete look, and that combination, white on white, is one of the simplest and most assured ways to wear linen.

Sapphire Blue is the other half of the pair. It is a deep, saturated blue, darker than sky and lighter than navy, that reads as an evening colour and keeps its composure through a day of travel. It takes almost any shirt in the collection: the Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Vanille, the Cuba Linen Shirt in Lemon Yellow, the Monte-Carlo Male in Oyster. In a dim restaurant or on a yacht deck under lights, Sapphire Blue holds its colour where paler cloth fades into the background.

Wearing them is a matter of choosing the shirt and stopping there. For the day, the trousers take a short-sleeved shirt worn untucked and a leather sandal; the cuff can be turned once at the ankle on a beach path. For lunch at a resort or a long table in a garden, a long-sleeved shirt, the Bliss Linen Shirt in Pink or the Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Dark Blue, raises the register without adding weight. For dinner, the Vibes Linen Shirt in Dark Blue over the White, or the Monte-Carlo Male in Vanille over the Sapphire Blue, wants only a good belt and a pair of loafers.

They travel well with the right expectations. Linen creases where it bends, behind the knee and across the lap, and the lines ease as the day goes on and the fibres warm. Packed in a loose roll and hung up on arrival, the trousers are ready by the time the bags are unpacked. For a longer trip, packing both colourways covers a week of evenings with a different shirt each night.

Care is straightforward. A gentle wash at 30°C is all they need, and they can dry in the sun, in the shade or in a tumble dryer on a low setting; for a sharper line, an iron on the linen setting while the cloth is still slightly damp gives one. Over time the cloth softens and takes on the shape of the wearer.

There is one more argument for them, and it is a quiet one. At the end of a long life, a pair of trousers made entirely of linen, with walnut buttons, returns to the earth. Linen and walnut both grow, and both return to the soil. That is what PP means by biodegradable by design.

Two colourways, then, and one decision fewer each morning. For a man who packs light and dresses well, that is a considerable gift.

Read more: The PP Casual Linen Trousers Guide  ·  The PP Linen Trousers Guide  ·  How to Style Linen Trousers for Men