Are you sitting comfortably? Then your jeans could be horribly unfashionable. Jeans or — shudder — jeggings with high levels of stretch, that feel so soft and legging-like you could sleep in them, are winging their way to the dustbin of fashion history. There’s a variety of other shapes taking their place this season but the common, well, thread is a return to what denim experts are calling authenticity: heritage cuts and fabrics with little or no stretch.
“There’s been a seismic shift,” enthuses Chloe Lonsdale, founder of denim brand MIH Jeans, where new-season styles include the Mimi (£225), a slim high-rise. “Our customer doesn’t want a contrived look any more. Stretch jeans are a modern phenomenon but they look worse with age, whereas denim with no stretch — or just a little bit — improves with wear,” she says. “It also provides a bit of sexy attitude. A good jean can combine boyish toughness with femininity.”
For this killer combination, look no further than archive pictures of Debbie Harry in her 1970s Levi’s. Straight, or slim-straight, high-waisted vintage denim, recalling the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, is fast becoming the favoured look of fashion editors, bloggers and off-duty models.
The Blondie singer was one of the inspirations behind Levi’s major new launch this autumn, the flattering 505C jean (from £85). Karyn Hillman, Levi’s chief product officer, says of the brand’s slimmer, more modern take on the original: “We noticed people are buying the 505 vintage, particularly girls, because [it] has a zipper, creating a flatter front, and it does that amazing Levi’s inverted-heart perky bum thing that vintage Levi’s do.” Higher-waisted jeans — and the Kardashians — have put the emphasis back on the derrière. Vintage Levi’s have been having a big comeback for more than a year, but choose the wrong era or fit and they can look more Steve Jobs than 1990s supermodel as shot by Bruce Weber. That’s why remodelled or deconstructed versions by labels such as Re/Done and Vetements have proved such a hit. And the Vetements effect has spread across the denim-sphere, with details such as transplanted pockets and stepped hems popping up everywhere. Topshop’s easy-to-wear Straight style comes with a stepped or frayed hem and side inserts, while Sonia Rykiel has a sweet patch-pocket version (£535).
One of the best ways to modernise an old pair of jeans that are too boot-cut or the wrong length, is to snip the hem and leave it frayed. At Gap, senior director of denim Alex Gray has also used a cropped length for a “balance of vintage and feminine” on the label’s new Vintage Straight jean (from £49.95).
The crop is also updating flared 1970s cuts. While there are styles that fall to the ground and ooze retro cool — such as Gucci’s embroidered flares (£725) — the shorter flare is easier to pull off because it can be thrown on with plimsolls, boots or pumps, and doesn’t trail along the pavement. MIH’s Lou jean has quite a wide hem, which hovers above the ankle and looks more effortless than the small kick flare that can make legs appear stumpy.
Perhaps the last word in authenticity, though, is the raw indigo wash favoured by Dries Van Noten and Balenciaga on their “boyish” jeans. Harking back to a purer era of denim in the 1950s, before rips, tucks and distressing levels of “distressed”, indigo looks both smart and effortless again. “Our customer doesn’t want a contrived look any more,” says Lonsdale. “Non-stretch takes a bit of getting used to but it’s more flattering. A year ago the high-rise tapered leg was known as the mom jean. Now it’s just the hot new millennial jean.”
Photographs: Richard Young/Rex/Shutterstock; Getty; Alo Ceballos
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