With consumer behavior becoming less predictable, New York Fashion Week designers leaned into a proven loyalty strategy: making pants shoppers love.
For its part, as part of its Spring 2026 focus on tailored suiting updated to be more sexy, playful and “undone,” Theory rolled out multiple new pants styles based on customer feedback largely collected through its stores.
“We wanted to come up [with pants] with an uber-feminine, elongated cut,” said Theory head of design Dushane Noble, while meeting with Glossy at the brand’s Meatpacking District showroom. The result was a new style called the Fluid Flare, which features a raised “break point” that hits higher in the thigh, allowing light to pass through the legs. The move was based on customer comments suggesting the brand’s existing Demitria pant is not universally flattering.
“We’ve been on the quest to find the perfect relaxed-fit pants that can suit [customers of] all heights,” Noble said. “We do a lot of research and studies to find solutions for a lot of the callouts and requests we get from the stores.”
Also reflected in the new collection, Noble has responded to customer demands for styles with more waist accentuation, more ease — with customers wanting to look “dressed while avoiding ‘over-complicated’” — and more color.
For spring, he did color in “a Theory way,” he said, introducing light pastels and eggplant-browns. And a satin pant was added to the mix to allow for the option of wearing “easy” pants for a special occasion.
“We have a history of a lot of repeat customers, and we find that if they love a pant, they’ll come back every season; the data has shown that she’s coming back for the new color,” Noble said. “Offering a pant that either complements the one she bought last year or is an improvement on the one she likes has always been our goal. People know us as a pant provider. So that’s always at the front of our minds when developing [our collections].”
Designer Daniella Kallmeyer, who was announced as a CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year nominee last week, also updated her 13-year-old brand’s popular pants for spring: She leaned into what she described as a new trend of “sexier, skinnier trousers,” but in “fabulous fabrics, where you’re like, ‘Wow, these are miracle pants,’” she said on Tuesday.
A pant purchase often marks a customer’s entry into the Kallmeyer brand, she said, with a belt and a T-shirt often accompanying it.
“We’re definitely known for our perfect pants,” Kallmeyer said. “A good pair of trousers is something that you can always return to and feel really loyal to. Our pants stand alone and they stand out, and they feel essential in your wardrobe.”
She described the pants’ fit as their secret sauce.
“There’s an ease to them: They sit just right, and there’s just enough volume,” she said, adding, “You should feel like you’re able to gesture in your clothes. A really good pair of pants makes you put your hands in your pockets and slouch a certain way, and it changes how comfortable you are in yourself. That’s [what we focus on as] we design our pants, and everything builds from there.”
Stacey Bendet, Alice + Olivia’s founder, creative director and CEO, credits her quest for the perfect pair of pants with getting her brand off the ground 23 years ago. She has since continued to iterate on the brand’s pants styles.
“Our story started with pants, and they’re still one of our superpowers,” she told Glossy. “From day one, we’ve obsessed over getting the fit right, because when a woman finds pants that truly flatter her, she’s with you for life. It’s an undeniable customer bond, and it continues to define how we grow the brand today.”
Likewise, Kate Watters, president of Jenni Kayne, which returned to fashion week after 14 years this season, said pants are an important sales driver for the brand, which is set to hit $140 million in revenue, up from $100 million five years ago. “Bottoms are an exciting callout for us, in terms of product and category — they’ve done really well,” she said. She added that Jenni Kayne’s take on pants reflects its “laidback California lifestyle,” with their ease of wear and versatility. The brand’s customers are loyal, with more than 3,000 paying a $150 annual membership to receive discounts and brand perks. In addition to apparel and accessories, its product categories span beauty and home.
According to Tagwalk, which offers a live data dashboard of fashion week trends, pants were featured in 33% of New York Fashion Week looks that rolled out in the event’s first five days — that’s 9% more than the Spring 2025 season and 29% more than Spring 2021. Tailoring, meanwhile, appeared in 18% of the looks, which is 38% higher than in Spring 2025 and 9% higher than in Spring 2021.
“New York Fashion Week put forward beautifully well-cut silhouettes that are more fitting for a life-long investment and everyday wear than a trend,” said Alexandra Van Houtte, founder and CEO of Tagwalk. She noted that the trend is likely to be specific to the U.S. “Tailoring, simple colors and fluid pants were so big on the [NYFW] runway, while Milan and Paris tend to be more trend-focused,” she said.
