I really love jeans. While I’m not about to change my name to Levi Strauss, I do own around 20 pairs, which is probably quite a lot. But in my defence, they make up the majority of my wardrobe, and half of the pairs have been in there for a long time—from the skinny Topshop Joni’s I keep just in case (no matter how “cheugy” they are) to a pair of boyfriend jeans I snapped up in a sale for a tenner 10 years ago which I still wear today. Currently, I have a couple of favourites I wear on repeat: wide-leg ecru jeans from L’Agence and a pair of dungarees from Frame. While I don’t want to admit that I’m a big fashion-editor cliché, both the aforementioned pairs are very much on-trend right now. It’s why, then, that I wasn’t really expecting this last jeans trend to come.
In March, Lyst, the global fashion shopping platform, said that it had spotted that distressed denim was having a moment, with searches growing 91% month-on-month: “Ripped jeans with cut-out details around the knees, in particular, are seeing the highest demand. Page views for the style are up 37% week-on-week. Whilst baggy boyfriend and straight-leg cuts are the most popular when searching for distressed denim, demand for ‘ripped skinny jeans’ is also growing quickly (+50%) since February.”
I shouldn’t be too surprised, really. Look around some of the biggest online retailers and you’ll discover there are plenty of designer and high-street brands carrying some version of distressed or ripped denim. On influencers, I’ve seen knee rips as the most popular style, but there are also distressed jeans with frayed hems on the more subtle side of the trend. Keep scrolling to see a few ideas on how to style this look, then keep going to shop my favourite ripped jeans.
Style Notes: Ripped jeans don’t automatically mean slobby. Grece wears hers with black mules and a crochet sweater for laid-back, cool vibes.
Style Notes: Abi’s take on distressed denim is to keep it simple with frayed hems. The roll-neck and slingbacks make this a perfect dinner outfit.
Style Notes: A tiny rip in a pair of jeans makes these feel like a well-loved pair. Wear with a grey jumper and a trench coat for the ideal “grabbing the Sunday papers” look.
Next up, these are the biggest autumn/winter 2021 fashion trends to know.
