Ever since the pendulum swung to the direction of looser, wider, baggier denim, those in fashion circles wondered when will the skinnier silhouettes come back. Specifically, skinny jeans, which have frequently elicited extremely passionate responses in the past. For most, the shift to wide-legged denim came with relief, an end to a time of squeezing into denim that would cut blood circulation. But now, as we jokingly attempt to go back a decade, does this mean the 2016 skinny jeans will make a 2026 comeback?
If the runways are any indication, then skinny jeans are making a subtle comeback, in slightly wider fits than the traditional skinny jeans. Recent runways like Khaite, Burberry, Jonathan Anderson’s debut collection for Dior, and Chanel’s 2026 Métiers d’Art collection all showcased the contemporary woman in a variety of silhouettes, and skinny-ish straight denim was right there with them.
On the other hand, this question ignores the wider collective fashion of society as a whole. While the past 5 years showed us that skinny jeans were not in trend, it didn’t mean that the silhouette wasn’t still popular with the average crowd. Especially for those with curvier bodies and shorter frames, the silhouette proved to be way more flattering and easier to style than any wide-leg pant. It’s partially why skinny jeans bring on the passionate responses in the first place; it’s such a polarising fit that creates equally extreme dedication and dislike.
For the runways, the slimmer pants weren’t a means of reinvention, or allowing the pendulum to swing back, but rather, it was a means of catching up to daily life, where trends have melted into one another as fashion further diversifies. Slimmer denim is back, but not at the expense of baggier silhouettes; now the two coexist.
If there is any “skinniness” to be expected this year, it will be straight leg and the ‘80s style cigarette jeans. But skinny jeans in specific? They’ve found their people and never left.
