This langur has a distinctively tall and pointed crest of black hair on its head. The fur is black with white lines from the corners of the mouth, across the cheeks to the ears. The inquisitive and endearing face of François' langur has a short muzzle and prominent brow ridges, giving the expression of permanent surprise. Unlike the colobines’ subfamily counterpart, the Cercopithecinae (or ‘typical monkeys’), the leaf-eating monkeys do not have cheek pouches, having instead a bulging stomach where slow-to-digest food accumulates. The buttocks of this tree-dwelling species have thickened pads known as ischial callosities, which are separate in females, but joined up in males. In common with many Trachypithecus species, the hands and feet are very slim with short thumbs, and the infants’ fur is pale ginger-orange, with black on the face and extremities.