Jeans Have Had A Cosy, Comfy Makeover – Welcome To The Era Of Non-Denim Denim
As a millennial woman with both a personal and professional interest in style, I feel that any use of the word ‘jeggings’ should come with a trigger warning. So here you go… trigger warning: jeggings! Remember them, the stretch-denim (or denim appropriating; printed and detailed to resemble it) leggings that were billed as the easy, comfortable way to do skinny jeans? Of course you do; they dominated our wardrobes in the late Noughties and early 2010s (‘jeggings’ entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011, the same year as ‘retweet’ and ‘sexting’).
Since then we have come to realise that jeans are not necessarily best seemingly painted to your skin, and have found a renewed appreciation for rigid denims, classic cuts and boyish silhouettes. Even if you’re on board with the skinny jeans revival, you’re probably still swerving jeggings.
FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE
But fashion has an endless capacity to surprise. And so I present to you non-denim-denim that doesn’t need a trigger warning and makes a compelling case for adding to basket.
First up, how about cashmere denim? That is the proposal from the very chic, very luxurious, over-100-year-old Barrie, the Scottish cashmere knit manufacturers who are one of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art houses (a Barrie Denim pop-up store is currently open in Paris, on rue Cambon, until the end of November). The trompe l’oeil denim jacket is already a house icon and now there is an accompanying capsule including cut-off shorts, skirts and shirts alongside additional styles of the jacket.
Showcasing the house’s savoir faire, each jacket requires nine different processes and with the stitching, distressed details and so on, not embroidered in a separate process but knitted into the design. Barrie’s couture-grade craft means, understandably, their pieces don’t come cheap – but the intention is you wear the denim collection much like, well, denim: i.e. on repeat.
Looking for something more laidback (read: affordable)? Good American have recently introduced their ‘Jeanius Sweats’ collection. ‘Looks Like Denim, Feels Like Sweats,’ the brand promises. ‘Sleek Enough for the Streets, Soft Enough for the Couch’.
So, you have loose-fit cotton sweatpants with fading, rivets, stitching and so on, or a terrycloth vest that passes as a denim corset (but, I am sure, feels a hell of a lot more comfortable). The fact that one of the world’s favourite jeans brands is getting in on the non-denim denim act suggests there’s mileage beyond the moment.
Alas, should the jeggings origin story still put you off, let’s rewrite it: could we instead say that it is a natural evolution of the ultra-luxe Bottega Veneta trompe l’oeil leather ‘jeans’ which the formidably talented Matthieu Blazy launched his tenure at the house with? There you go, suddenly seems much more appealing.
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
You Might Also Like
