This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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On the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.
This week, we talk about the closure of Gen-Z-favorite underwear brand Parade, six years after its founding. We also talk about Lululemon becoming the latest fashion brand to partner with the NFL. And we discuss layoffs at big companies like Amazon and what they mean for American consumers’ dim outlook on the economy.
In the second half of the episode, we’re joined by Glossy editor-in-chief Jill Manoff to discuss the new rules of the denim market.
Denim is a perennially popular category, and there’s more diversity and competition in denim than ever. We talk about the trends that are dominant and the ways the denim customer is changing, plus we group together some of the current top brands to provide a better sense of how the sector is evolving.
Here are a few highlights from the conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Manoff: “Obviously, denim sales declined sharply during the pandemic. Then there was a boom of denim sales in 2021, 2022. But then, in 2023, there was a 5% drop. And I think there was a lack of innovation, a lack of diversification in denim at the time. A lack of newness. And so now, it’s all about newness. Lots of new styles, new colors, new fits.”
Parisi: “It used to be very common for people to find one fit of jeans that they liked and buy a bunch of pairs and just wear that. But what I’m hearing from denim brands is that the same customer is more likely to have narrower jeans, wider jeans, barrel jeans and low-rise jeans all in their closet and switch between them. There are more styles popular across the category, but also within one consumer’s closet.”
Zwieglinska: “Denim is one of those areas where no one wants to be wearing exactly the same thing. I think that’s why you’ve seen an interest in vintage denim or selvedge. Most people want something unique and, as a result, you see bigger retailers embracing customization. Even though a wider leg silhouette is popular right now, everyone and every brand has a slightly different interpretation of that fit.”
