The catwalk is a playground for designers to try out inventive denim trends. And some of those trends trickle into mainstream fashion.
From back-to-basics utility styles to the return of oversized silhouettes, here’s a look at the top 10 spring runway trends every denimhead needs to know.
Texture
These are not your basic jeans. Familiar silhouettes like skinny jeans and Trucker jackets get a makeover with dizzying jacquards, fur-like surfaces and destruction with an elegant twist. Loose threads are embellished with crystals and pearls, while collars and pockets are trimmed with dandy-like doily lace.
Uniform styling
With no shortage of utility fashion in stores, expect the trend to filter into denim. Head-to-toe denim takes on a uniform look with jumpsuits, work shirts and matching jeans. Patchwork patterns, slouchy silhouettes and exaggerated proportions and pockets enliven the blue-collar look.
Oversized
Denim’s long-awaited return to upsized silhouettes is finally taking shape. While shirt cuffs puddle over hands and pant legs swish with each step, designers pull off an impressive level of tailoring and refinement. The oversized garments have an elegant feel with drapey fabrications, jewelry-like trims and vivid shades of blue.
Remix
Denim is the go-to canvas for the wildest ideas, including designers’ new fondness for extra appendages, denim chaps and nonsensical layering. This spring, expect to see denim mixed with suiting fabrics, jean skirts worn over pants and jeans combined with ’90s-style windbreaker bottoms.
Acid wash
Denim with high-contrast acid effects are among the fashion relics from the ’80s that are trending once again. The wash feels fresh on new mom jeans and jumper dresses, and when worn as layering pieces.
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Summer denim
Just add sand and water to this laidback denim trend. Wave effects, bright casts and relaxed, pleated silhouettes smack of seaside style, while laser printed hibiscus prints, tie-dye and shoelace belts are bound to resonate with beach bums.
Cargo pockets
In line with the utility trend, cargo pockets made an ironic return this spring. And the bigger the pocket, the bigger impression the jeans make. Designers are adding the functional detail to both wide-leg and slim jeans, and Dad-style fisherman vests.
Color denim
Denim can’t escape millennials’ love for bright colors. Classic denim silhouettes like the Trucker jacket gets a fresh paint job in yellow, tangy orange and fire-engine red. The color stories complement the season’s hybrid athleisure, too.
Jorts
The infamous ‘jort’ returns in authentic ’90s style. The men’s short comes in below-the-knee lengths and rigid-looking fabrications with orange-peel character. Look for logos in unexpected places, like the fly, to take jorts into streetwear territory.
Hardware
Exposed zippers, dangling straps, chains and gratuitous metal hoops bring a subversive look to denim this spring. Hardware brings an unseasonably edgy look to jackets and jeans, particularly to Gen Z consumers discovering rave and goth fashion for the first time.