Can Skinny Jeans Reclaim Their Style Status?
The scent of polyester, the smoothness of stretch fabric, the relief felt after finally freeing your feet from the suction of narrow legs…though the memories (or triggers) of wearing skinny jeans are still fresh in the minds of consumers, new data from retail intelligence firm EDITED points to the style’s potential comeback.
Though the leg-hugging fit continues to perform “sluggishly” at retail compared to roomier fits, EDITED reports that the “popularity for the most controversial denim style” grew 50 percent between January and February.
More from Sourcing Journal
Consumers are showing their curiosity in the rocker-turned-hipster-turned millennial-favored fit. EDITED reported that during the first three months of the year, shoppers were searching online for information about skinny jeans worldwide, specifically if they are in style for 2024. South Korea and Ireland were among the top regions searching for skinny jeans. The term “skinny jeans” was also more popular than baggy in the U.S. and UK.
Skinny’s return is to be expected, according to Carla Calvelo, creative design director of Favorite Daughter. “It’s no shock as most trends and silhouettes recycle themselves in the industry,” she said. “It has been a while since we’ve seen extra wide baggies and they’re back bigger and better than before.”
“After a few seasons of wide leg, flare and barrel fits, it’s natural for jeans to get slimmer. And the wider leg jeans don’t work for every shape as compared with skinny jeans,” said Christine Rucci, founder of the denim consultancy Godmother NYC Inc.
Skinny jeans have a long way to go to reclaim their pre-pandemic status as the No. 1 fit, however.
Across genders, EDITED said new arrivals of skinny jeans dropped 31 percent year-over-year. In comparison, women’s wide-leg jeans are up 79 percent and men’s baggy jeans are up 140 percent. New arrivals of barrel leg jeans—a polarizing fit, itself—are up a whopping 240 percent year-over-year.
Skinny jeans account for only 7 percent of women’s sellouts, compared to the stronghold that ’90s styles like straight and wide leg continue to have. The nostalgic fits account for 20 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of women’s best-selling styles. The fit doesn’t fare much better in the men’s category. Skinny jeans account for 8 percent of men’s sellouts, EDITED stated, losing out to baggy jeans, which account for 27 percent of men’s best-selling styles.
The average markdown of skinny jeans is also higher than relaxed fits. EDITED said 32 percent were advertised as reduced with an average markdown of 42 percent, compared to 20 percent of wide-leg styles at 30 percent off.
“Skinny jeans have definitely slowed down in the last few years,” said Jill Perilman, creative director of Liverpool Los Angeles.
The brand launched in 2012—peak time for skinny jeans—but Perilman said the style has lost ground due to the “resurgence of wide leg and looser-fitting jeans.” Two of Liverpool’s wide-leg styles, the mid-rise Stride and high-rise Tucker, have become extremely popular in the last few years, she said.
Skinny jeans have never been a large part of Favorite Daughter’s business. The brand, a joint venture between Centric Brands and Sara and Erin Foster, launched in 2020 just as the style was on the decline, Calvelo said. It has only offered one true skinny style called the Sara and doesn’t use the super-stretch fabrications typically used for skinnies.
Rather, Favorite Daughter has invested in comfort stretch for styles like the Valentina, a high-rise cigarette style offered with various leg openings and the Erin, a mid-rise slim ankle jean. Calvelo said these are the brand’s slimmest silhouettes and account for about half of its business.
Skinny Stans
So why is the denim industry excited about skinny jeans if they generate fewer sellouts and require deeper discounts?
Proving to be more hiatus than a Houdini-like disappearing act, the polarizing fit was present in Fall/Winter 2025-2026 collections by Balenciaga, Miu Miu and Alexander McQueen.
The form-fitting bottom is also central to Indie Sleaze, the late 2000s fashion core that media has hyped up for the last two years but is finally catching on with young consumers thanks to the influence of “Saltburn” and “Back to Black.”
Footwear is also nudging leg shapes to slim down. “I think skinny jeans are going to come back strong for Fall 2024 because of the new boots being introduced,” Perilman said. “We love the new slouchy statement boots we see from Khaite and other designers. A skinny jean will be the best leg shape for this type of new boot.”
There’s also the consumer who never abandoned the style.
Though Ricki Robinson, Hudson’s senior designer for women’s, gives runway shows credit for making the skinny jean a fashion item again, the designer said the style never went away. “For most of our customers, the skinny jean is still the go-to denim in her closet. To the credit of various runway shows, the skinny jean is making a fashion comeback,” she said.
“They didn’t go away and are still considered a staple for most people’s wardrobes, just not worn by your most well-known fashionistas,” Calvelo added.
At retail, EDITED said the skinny jeans selling through at full price tend to be dark rinses like indigo, gray or black, and high-waisted styles. Consumers are also drawn to the shaping benefits of skinny jeans.
Liverpool’s trademarked Gia Glider, a pull-on five-pocket skinny jean, continues to be a bestseller. Perilman said consumers love the added comfort the style’s “encased elastic waistband” provides and the variety of washes and colors available.
In 2023, the fit occupied 23 percent of Hudson’s total denim jean sales. Depending on the season, Robinson said 5-15 percent of Hudson’s denim styles are skinny. Bestsellers are the Collin, a mid-rise “OG style with the brand’s legacy flap back pocket, and Barbara, a high-rise skinny in the wash, Obscurity.
“We are always sourcing new premium fabrications and washes with optimal stretch that will still hold the wearer in and give them the best shape,” Robinson said.
That being said, the skinny jean is due for an update.
Skinny jeans are part of Denim Dudes’s Fall/Winter 2025-2026 forecast as well, albeit with an edgy Gen Z twist like stacked legs, thicker stitches and styled with layered belts.
“The skinny jeans of the early 2000s need to get a makeover,” Rucci said, adding that brands must update 20-year-old fits and their fabric choices to suit the bodies and needs of women in 2024. “And from a marketing standpoint, it’s time to stop calling it skinny. The name itself is less inclusive and off-putting for certain body types and markets in denim,” she said.
Rucci is seeing brands shift away from “cheap gummy stretch denim with a lot of polyester.”
“Brands need to open up the mid-thigh—about 6 inches below the crotch—add some slight ease to the knee and mid-calf, and open up the bottom hem,” she said. “I think a slim slightly tapered leg opening or straight from the knee to the hem will be the natural evolution of the skinny.”
EDITED echoed Rucci’s sentiments, pointing out that “skinny jeans will need a modern rebrand to resonate with Gen Z after the demographic famously branded them ‘cheugy’ online.” The firm suggested that brands and retailers explore options that are “more forgiving around the ankles” and use terms like “narrow” and “tapered” to describe the jeans.
Brands that act now will have a leg up on the competition by the time skinny fits become mainstream again in 2025, Edited said.
Brands are open to this evolution. Liverpool describes its Liv style as a “non-skinny” skinny and a “relaxed skinny” jean. The jean’s leg measurement from the thigh down to the leg opening is wider than Liverpool’s traditional skinny fit but narrower than its straight leg. The Liv is available in a variety of indigo washes as well as white and ecru.
While skinny isn’t a focus for Favorite Daughter, that may change as the brand tries other stretch fabrications. “We are currently expanding into a true luxe stretch, a slightly heavier weight that will hold customers in like our loved comfort stretch. There’s no way we will pass up on the Sara,” Calvelo said.
Solve the daily Crossword
