Project: Wide-Leg Jeans Are on the Menu for Fall/Winter 2024-2025
Premium denim brands showcased their Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collections at Project Las Vegas last week. Looser fits and medium-to-dark washes dominated the offering, signaling that the skinny-free denim diet is still very much en vogue.
At Joe’s Jeans, demand from buyers was “kind of across the board,” West Coast women’s account executive Lauren Grant told Rivet. Straight and wide leg styles pervaded the group’s assortment, with a special focus on elevated, office-ready styling.
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“I’ve heard from lots and lots of boutique owners that there are people going back to work, but they’re able to dress a little more casual, so a denim trouser is kind of perfect,” she said.
Joe’s showcased several styles featuring the slanted pockets and wide-leg silhouette of a quintessential work pant. One featured a more formal tab closure, while a pared down version featured a conventional zip fly. Details like a slightly pleated leg and dark wash elevated the bottoms.
A tailored, five-button denim vest was paired with the trouser for a look that Grant called “sophisticated,” but not too “buttoned-up.”
“Denim-on-denim sets are going be a huge trend, so in our collection, we did some new denim jackets, shirting and vests that pair back to the denim trouser,” she said.
Across Joe’s core assortment, jeans featured a clean finish and very little distressing, save for some minimal grinding on back pockets. Grant said large cuffs and raw edges are also in demand.
“We’re super excited about wide legs—it’s definitely something we’re seeing more in the market while skinny is definitely going out,” Gianni Grimaldi, West Coast account executive for 7 For All Mankind, said. While there are still some customers that carry slimmer styles, fashion accounts are gravitating to looser fits, she explained.
One standout of the fall collection is an ultra-wide-leg, relaxed fit jean with a self belt. The jean is made from the brand’s Denim Lustre fabrication. The hand-feel is soft, lightweight and stretch free, offering a degree of drape and movement not always associated with denim, Grimaldi said. Two versions of the pant is available, one with cargo pockets and another without.
Waxy, coated denim also punctuated the collection—a “subtle addition” that feels quintessentially fall, she said.
7 For All Mankind continues with its Dojo “trouser-fit” jean, a style that has become a fixture of the Western market of rodeo-goers and horse-show attendees. “Overall, we’re not a Western brand, but Western customers come to us for this fit,” she said. The straight-leg jean with a slight flare features the brand’s longest available inseam—34.5 inches—and is made to fit over a cowboy boot.
Back pocket “7” stitch detailing in contrasting colors like gold and burgundy stand out when a wearer is on a horse, she added.
“We always have such a wide variety of washes—obviously for fall, we tend to go a little bit darker,” Grimaldi said. Some accounts prefer to carry a range of shades, especially in warmer markets or regions less affected by weather, like Los Angeles, where light denim remains a staple through the winter months.
At Pistola, total denim fits were a must have, from dresses to jumpsuits, long skirts paired with matching jackets and other sets.
The brand’s core jeans offering centered around—you guessed it—wide-leg fits, from ultra-wide barrel legs to a bow-legged silhouette for more trend-conscious buyers. Dubbed the Eli, a brand associate said the jean launched over the holidays, and was starting to pick up for spring and fall. “It’s just about the customer warming up to the trend,” she said.
The brand featured mid and dark washes for fall. Large, folded cuffs were also present across the line, as well as fashion details like studs and double waistbands. “We do really well with our novelty pieces,” she added.
At Mavi, of-the-moment trends were also on display.
A jean with 9.25-inch rise style called the Morella was in high-demand, West Coast sales coordinator Kylie Martinson said. “This is going to cater to the low-rise trend—it’s kind of a boot-straight cut,” she said. “We’ve been getting a lot of requests for a lower rise.”
Capitalizing on the “mob wife” aesthetic, Mavi will release a leopard-print version of its bestselling Anika high-rise crop flare, along with a matching jacket, for fall. “This is probably our most fun fashion piece” for the season, she told Rivet, noting that the set had been booked several times at the Project show.
Barrel style wide-leg silhouettes also made an appearance in Mavi’s collection. Offered in army green and camo print with cargo pockets, the styles are a reminder that utility remains an influence for fall.
According to Martinson, customers also gravitated to denim coordinates, like a black skirt and tailored vest that could be paired with knee-high boots for a night out or sneakers for the daytime. Trouser-style denim pants also appeared in the Mavi line, this time with patch pockets on the front.
Martinson said “dark, clean denim” and “natural, vintage-looking, not over-processed” washes were the standouts for the season. And while looser fits and adventurous silhouettes certainly took precedence, she said the brand still has its skinny jean customers.
“We will always carry skinnies,” she said. Even though right now for most shoppers, “they’re folded down in the back of the closet.”