There’s good news for anyone who gained a bit of extra weight during the pandemic. It seems looser-fitting jeans are making a comeback.
According to Levi’s, skinny jeans are out and loose-hanging, wide-leg, and flared jeans are back in style. The brand's CEO Chip Bergh told CNBC that more and more shoppers of all ages are buying baggier jeans, including the styles that were once popular in the 1990s.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen this resonating with consumers,” Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh told CNBC, about the more loose-fitting denim styles. “Cycles do come and go. And I think the pandemic definitely played a contributing role to consumers looking for a more comfortable, more relaxing denim.”
According to Bergh, business was down in the first quarter of 2021, but the brand saw a huge boost in sales in jeans that ballooned out at the bottom, and a second style that was loose-fitting with a high-rise at the waist.
And it seems loose-fitting jeans are popular with teens too. In a recent survey of 7,000 US teens, were asked what the top fashion trends were among females in school. Leggings topped the list, with 23% of girls calling them out— but “baggy/saggy pants” and “mom jeans” came in second and third place.
“I don’t think skinny jeans are ever going to go away completely,” he went on. “But clearly right now we are seeing a very strong demand for these looser fits, both the men’s side of the business, as well as the women’s side of the business.”