The pandemic has changed us. Profoundly. The myriad of things we have learned to reconsider starts with our psycho-physical health, goes through smart working, and even reaches our sense of style. In 2022, our tastes in jeans are also changing.
Fashion is cyclical, like everything else, and comfort has flooded our thoughts and desires. The slim and tapered fit no longer dominates the category of denim pants. Remote work and the cultural changes that follow have led us to desire more comfortable and convenient clothing. The certainty of skinny jeans, which has maintained its grip for years transcending subcultures and national certainties, is now experiencing a real setback.
This phenomenon has become so widespread that “many retailers are completely abandoning skinny jeans from their shelves.” This is in contrast to the 30% of skinny jeans. *In the picture, from left: the straight models, straight leg, from the spring-summer 2022 collections of Louis Vuitton, Celine, and Icicle. *
Skinny jeans have been incredibly successful.
Beginning as a quiet trend, it has maintained its grip on consumers year after year, defying repeated predictions by style experts that the trend had run its course. In 2019, skinny jeans represented 41% of women’s jeans sales, according to NPD data. That was all pre-pandemic. Hence, *Bof* continues: “The pandemic was what solidified the shift to looser styles.
For two years, consumers worked from home in pajamas, leggings, or sweatpants. Now, however, many are still looking for an element of comfort. Add in the nostalgia for all the trends of the 90s and 2000s, a period when wide-leg pants were the norm.” Et voilà.
*Three high-waisted 70s style models from the spring-summer 2022 runway show of Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. *
Companies confirm this. Karen Riley-Grant, chief marketing officer of Levi’s, has confirmed it as well. So, what will we wear most?
But be careful: we predict a return of skinny jeans in about ten years. Fashion is cyclical, so never eliminate a pair of jeans from your wardrobe. You might regret it.