Is Bootcut Back?

Despite being the on the heavier end of the scales, selvedge jeans are seeing a real resurgence in menswear. This dark indigo-colored, untreated, and rigid denim saw huge popularity at the start of the 2010s, which saw rise to styles like A.P.C's New Standard style and helped launch brands like Edwin — and now, it’s once more seeing an increase in popularity.

The term ‘selvedge’ refers to any denim that is finished with a ‘self-finished edge’, a method of production that prevents unraveling and creates a hard-wearing and dense material. This technique is signified by a contrasting red stitch along the inside seam, often displayed by turning up the cuff on the pant leg. Raw selvedge denim wears in uniquely, adopting fading at stress points depending on how you wear them — but this resurgence is also seeing washed selvedge denim come into consideration, with brands like Sacai showing off a lightwash style in their SS25 collection.

Silhouettes wax and wane when it comes to denim. The 2000s saw the ultra-skinny leg reign supreme, and we now find ourselves in the moment of wide-legged and relaxed shapes being the jean du jour. But a new contender has entered the legwear arena, thanks to two very specific and much-followed tastemakers: Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar.

Both have been seen wearing washed-out, bootcut fit jeans, a shape that is synonymous with the 1970s after navy uniforms became a favorite thrifting purchase from military surplus stores. As the name suggests, bootcuts are designed to sit over a pair of heeled leather boots, but in 2025 it’s likely to see the wide ankle opening pooled over a statement sneaker (à la Kendrick) as often as a boot.

Luxury brands like Husbands, Celine, and Rick Owens all have bootcut silhouettes in their collections, and highstreet options from Weekday or Cheap Monday are there for those who want to dip their toes (or boots) and take a foray into flares.

Illusory prints, using a technique called trompe l'oeil, have been popping up more frequently within the collections of both independent and luxury brands in recent seasons. Our Legacy, one of the fastest moving brands in the Q4 Lyst Index, began making its ‘Digital Print’ jeans in 2021. Since then, Acne Studios, Diesel, and Bottega Veneta have followed suit producing their own trick-of-the-eye legwear options.

Playing on a worn-in aesthetic delivered through a more luxury lens, printed denim takes an otherwise humble piece of clothing and elevates it to a more considered level, where tears (real or otherwise) and fading are intentional and purely aesthetics for the sake of aesthetics.

Denim jackets are by no means new to the world of menswear — they’ve been around almost as long as denim jeans themselves. The style has dipped in and out of the zeitgeist in the past few decades, with its most recent resurgence in the 2010s during the heritage-leaning menswear trend.

This time around, brands are taking denim jackets in more diverse directions: from oversized and drapey to longer-length workwear-inspired options and more cropped, vintage-feeling styles, many sartorial avenues are being explored for spring 2025. The typical denim jacket shape you may be familiar with is being reimagined and reworked, positioning the style as a versatile spring outerwear option that isn’t tied to one particular aesthetic.