Cool It On the Skinny Jeans—Chic People Are Wearing These 6 Fall Denim Trends Instead

The start of a new season is always a good time to take stock of our wardrobes and look at what's working and, consequently, not, but there's no better time to clean the slate than the fall. There's just something about the arrival of back-to-school energy and the promise of cooler weather that puts a pep in our step, and nothing is more quintessential to fall shopping than fresh denim.

This fall, we're ushering in six major denim trends that have been seen on the runways, on celebrities, and on our favorite fashion people. But with the arrival of anything new, it naturally calls into question what doesn't feel as relevant and I'll be the one to say what we're all thinking: skinny jeans just aren't the default for most of us anymore. Instead, the jeans that fashion insiders are talking about, shopping, and wearing the most right now? They're longer, looser, and more voluminous overall.

Here, discover the six major denim trends taking over for fall 2025, from the return of bootcut jeans to rich-looking indigo washes.

If barrel-leg jeans were the biggest denim trend of 2024, then balloon jeans are set to take their place in 2025. Fret not, the curved silhouette is here to stay, it's simply evolving—in place of the barrel craze is the rise of balloon jeans that feature a more tapered fit and a shape that bows out at the thigh rather than from the hip for a more subtle shape.

As cyclical as trends can be, there's one style of jeans that will reliably always be in style, and that's vintage-inspired straight cuts. The jeans featured on the runway at Brandon Maxwell this season and with key tastemakers like Morgan Stewart and Courtney Grow going back to their classic vintage pairs, it's never been a better time to revisit them.

2025's polished and elegant mood is seeping into our denim stack, and we're seeing deep indigo shades rearing their heads for fall. The dark-rinse jeans of the moment are doubling down on the polished feel in clean-looking shapes like straight-leg and trouser-inspired fits.

What's old is new again, right? With the 2000s bohemia reviving itself, it shouldn't be all that surprising to see bootcut jeans return to the forefront. Chloé paired the denim lace-trimmed tanks and long pendants on its fall runway, which is the general styling direction we're expecting fashion people to follow in the wild this season.

You might want to put down that trucker jacket, because denim outerwear is getting a much-needed update. Everywhere we look, denim jackets are getting cooler and cooler with funnel neck, bomber jacket, and cinch-waist silhouettes lending a decidedly modern feel to the wardrobe classic.

Just because jeans are getting more polished and structured doesn't mean relaxed denim is disappearing. To the contrary, the exact kind of relaxed jeans that fashion people are wearing these days is merely evolving into styles that feature a low-slung waist and wide-leg fit.