Here come the cropstepper: the new raw-denim look - The Guardian

The idea of a trouser with a mixed hemline suggests lots of things: commitment issues; a hemline index sitting on the fence between economic ruin and prosperity (how very 2016); and also a liberated way to switch up an old formula.

“Crop stepped” or “stemmed hem” are high-waisted jeans with an area cut out from the front. They look customised and in their first iteration, from US store Mother, are indigo blue. More interesting is the version from Gap, which takes the mid blue jean and Vetementises them. Demna Gvasalia’s £1,000 “reworked” jeans were made by splicing together two different pairs of vintage jeans and creating an uncertain, uneven feeling. Topshop’s design director Jacqui Markham says that the company are following in the spirit of Gvasalia’s idea of vintage recycling. “We have a big focus on repurposing and customisation in our denim collection this season,” she says. “We’ve been experimenting with more rigid denim and raw hems to produce a more authentic look.”

Sylvia Haghjoo wears Vetements jeans. Photograph: Christian Vierig/Getty Images

The thirst for more authentic, raw-looking denim has come on the back of both the 90s revival and the trend for multiple rips. That the latter is something which began as an anti-capitalist sartorial signifier from the punk and alternative era, perhaps provides consumerist food for thought. Iggy Pop said he originated the look, telling Vice in 2012: “As I began doing more gigs, these flimsy pants I wore would start to rip and I left the rips in … before the end of the show they’d rip onstage, and that was part of the gig. But I was the first one to just come out with the rips, as far as I know.” The overly ripped jeans are now the norm for Fear of God-wearing celebrities.

The crop stepped jeans take element of this corporatised punkish feel and keeps the conservative elements of the silhouette. Suggesting a perfect marriage between wearability and attitude.

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