Overview
- Reporting now points to straight-leg, mid- to high-rise jeans as the baseline for 2026 rather than a single buzzy shape.
- The direction crystallized from SS26 runways in New York, London, Milan and Paris, spanning cropped slims, elevated straights and frayed miniskirts.
- Workwear utility influences lead styling ideas, with carpenter jeans, long denim duster coats and apron-style layers in focus.
- Raw and selvedge denim is positioned as an investment choice that can read more formal as designers iterate on classic silhouettes.
- DIY customization and experimental treatments broaden the look of denim through patchwork, embellishment, trompe l'oeil effects, novel coatings and unexpected colours.