Not Jeans, Not Leggings: The Dated Pant Trend Hailey Bieber and Alexa Chung Are Adding Back Into Their Rotations
Lately, with the temps dropping by the day, celebrities are usually wearing either jeans or leggings when we spot them out and about—the former to run errands and go out to dinner and the latter for Pilates classes and sessions with their trainers. A handful of It girls have chosen to stray from those two pant styles, opting instead to reintroduce a somewhat dated alternative into their winter wardrobes. Those bottoms? Leather pants aka the elevated denim alternative that's warm and luxurious with just the right touch of edge.
First, it was Hailey Bieber. During a recent trip to Tokyo, Japan, the Rhode founder took a break from wearing vintage Levi's (sourced, as always, by Denim by Orlee) to bring leather pants back from the dead. Bieber's leather-pant outfit consisted of straight-leg, cropped bottoms styled with a vintage brown Issey Miyake jacket, a Phoebe Philo clutch, black kitten heels, and a retro Mercedes-Benz baseball cap. She finished off the look with a pair of all-black wire-rim sunglasses.
WHO: Hailey Bieber
WEAR: Issey Miyake jacket; Phoebe Philo Triplex Clutch ($3900)
One look doesn't make a trend, even when it's Bieber who wears it. Two, however, is an entirely different story. A week or so after Bieber posted a photo of her leather-pant outfit to Instagram, Alexa Chung followed suit, dropping a slideshow on her IG feed following New York City's recent blizzard that showcased her styling approach to leather pants. The British It girl braved the elements in a pair of classic leather pants, an oversize peacoat, a cream scarf, and vintage cat-eye sunglasses with yellow lenses. "The city that never sleets and my new, old personality glasses that I won't shut up about," she captioned the photos. While her eyewear was clearly Chung's main point of focus, mine was her leather pants. The chips were falling in their favor right and left. A leather-pant comeback is near.
WHO: Alexa Chung
If you're as convinced as I am to put my jeans and legging spending on hold to strictly focus on reintroducing leather pants into my winter wardrobe, you're in luck. Ahead, find ways to re-create both Bieber's and Chung's leather-pant outfits. Plus, shop all the best leather pants on the market this season.
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Eliza Huber is an NYC-based senior fashion editor who specializes in trend reporting, brand discovery, and the intersection of sports and fashion. She joinedBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing in 2021 from Refinery29, the job she took after graduating with a business degree from the University of Iowa. She's launched two columns, Let's Get a Room and Ways to Wear; profiled Dakota Fanning, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes, Gracie Abrams, and Sabrina Carpenter; and reported on everything from the relationship between Formula One and fashion to the top runway trends each season. Eliza lives on the Upper West Side and spends her free time researching F1 fashion imagery for her side Instagram accounts @thepinnacleoffashion and @f1paddockfits, watching WNBA games, and scouring The RealReal for discounted Prada.