Ye, the artist commonly known as Kanye West, and his new girlfriend, “Uncut Gems” actress Julia Fox, are stealing the show at Paris Fashion Week with matching denim and leather outfits.
The new couple made their red-carpet debut together Sunday at the Kenzo Fall-Winter 2022/2023 Menswear fashion show wearing matching all-denim ensembles. The outfits drew immediate comparisons to the denim-on-denim looks that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake famously donned at the 2001 American Music Awards.
Ye matched light-wash jeans and Red Wing work boots with a puffy denim jacket from his new Yeezy Gap partner Balenciaga. Announced earlier this month, the team-up will see Balenciaga creative director Demna reunite with the Grammy winner after providing creative direction for a controversial “Donda” listening party last August.
Fox, like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé before her, championed the resurgent Schiaparelli fashion house. While her gold earrings and denim jacket came from the brand itself, Fox’s trousers hailed from the personal wardrobe of Schiaparelli artistic director Daniel Roseberry, Vogue reported.
Are Ye and Fox’s fashion moment moving the needle with consumers?
According to Trendalytics, searches for “denim on denim” and “Canadian tuxedo” are currently down 21 percent and 40 percent, respectively, to last year, despite their momentary return to the spotlight. Men’s double denim, a low-volume search with less than 1,000 average weekly queries, is up 10 percent year over year. Searches for denim jacket and cropped denim jacket are down 36 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Searches for low-rise baggy jeans, however, are up 27 percent to last year.
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Denim corsets, embellished denim jackets and low-rise leg jeans are the emerging trends to watch, Trendalytics said. Denim shackets, which have been on the rise for a year and are expected to continue to grow for another year, are “a safe bet,” the firm added.
Ye and Fox appeared in matching outfits once again Monday at the Schiaparelli Spring 2022 couture show. This time they wore all-leather ensembles, Fox in a zip-front minidress and thigh-high boots and Ye in a leather jacket and pant, and face mask similar to his Met Gala look.
Though Trendalytics’ data show leather jackets trending downward 20 percent, leather pants and leather corsets are both up 34 percent compared to last year. Leather bodysuits, leather cropped pants and leather midi dresses are “exhibiting emerging behavior,” the firm said, and are likely to grow in the upcoming months.
“Rigid fabrics like leather and denim have experienced a post-lockdown resurgence aided by the viral success of the aughts era aesthetic—an umbrella trend to both materials,” Kayla Marci, a market analyst at Edited, said. Over the past month, denim jeans and outerwear sellouts have risen 68 percent versus a year earlier, she added.
New arrivals in leather styles—across tops, bottoms, outerwear and dresses—were up 20 percent year over year in the past month, according to Edited. “Further investment can be expected, following the hype around Ye and Julia and influences from pop culture such as the ‘Matrix’ reboot and consumer shifts buoying interest in animal-friendly and sustainable fabric alternatives,” Marci added.