Christopher Lindland doesn’t want to turn the fashion world upside down. He’s shooting for just 90 degrees.

Mr. Lindland, 33, makes horizontal corduroy and seersucker pants for men. The material, which always used to be a matter of up and down, now runs left to right. On both the “Cordarounds” ($88) and seersucker “Summerounds” ($77), the flat-front cut is casual and clean, yet the material demands a double take. And that’s just how this light-hearted San Francisco-based designer likes things. Mr. Lindland’s pants are sold only online at www.cordarounds.com, and he uses no traditional advertising. What he has going for him, besides a stylish product, is a Web site that has the humor of a blog with a cheeky, individual voice.

On one page, a pseudo-scientific diagram illustrates the cooling benefits of horizontal-wale seersucker: “Unlike vertical seersucker puckers, which whisk radiant heat from asphalt to crotch to form an uncomfortable and possibly incendiary column of superheated air, Lindland’s horizontal Thermosucktu technology creates a 462-pucker barrier from heel to crotch (504 for longs!), safely insulating nature’s most precious equipment from the ravages of summer swelter.”

The site boasts a business plan that includes goals starting with “hats,” “jackets,” and “shorts” and proceeding to “diamonds,” “petroleum,” “pharmaceuticals,” and “genetically modified meat.”

Hubris is no small part of his operation, which he runs out of a small studio with the help of business partner Enrique Landa, 27. Mr. Lindland brings each order, about a 10 a day, to the post office himself: “Your pants,” no matter where they’re headed, “get a view of the Golden Gate.”

Despite the humble digs, Mr. Lindland describes himself as “the latest San Francisco pants phenom.” Levi Strauss, who built his empire by selling jeans to miners in the 1948 California gold rush, was the first – and so far is still champion. But Mr. Lindland jokes that the title is “something everyone here is vying for.” He signs his e-mails as “purveyor, pants,” though he has boasted online that he is “pant czar of San Francisco.”

In between selling a few thousand pairs of trousers this year, and the “sales, support, and service of death rays,” Mr. Lindland is dealing with the small matter of moving the pants into physical retail space. “I want to create a community feel before I would sell to stores,” he says.

He hopes to differentiate his brand from others that begin with a retail operation, then scramble to create an online presence, which can feel committee-driven, unnecessary, and tone-deaf. “Every brand that exists to date has made an effort to have some sort of online strategy, taking that which they already did and moving it online. The Web sites do nothing more than to provide additional information,” he says.

Currently, Mr. Lindland’s range of products includes seersucker in blue or tan stripes. A third version, gray with “pistachio” pockets, makes its premiere today. The Cordarounds come in olive, brown, and dark blue. A women’s line is planned for next spring, which may be a tough sell. Most women learn pretty quick that horizontal lines are less than flattering. Mr. Lindland is also considering making trousers of other “highly textured fabrics,” such as linen, wool, and suit cloths. No matter where he is heading, he’ll have fun – and hopes that you do, too: “People enjoy a clothing company that is not taking itself seriously.”