5 Controversial Jeans Trends That Will Be Everywhere in 2025

Everyone has a favourite pair of jeans—after all they are the foundation of an infinite number of outfits, but what happens when your failsafes start to feel a little, samey? After personally swearing off jeans for years (it took me a lifetime to find a pair that fit my waist-to-hip ratio and didn't cost the earth), it was one pair of high-waisted, perfectly tailored straight-legs that changed everything for me. But, after living in said jeans for the last four years now, the wash has slightly faded and the fit has started to slacken, and looking for the next denim trend has thrown out more colours, cuts and styles than ever. Our requirements aren't too much to ask! How it hard can it be to find a flattering, fashionable pair of jeans that makes us look and feel great? Well, the answer may lie in 2025's denim offering.

To help you find what could be the next mom jean or perfect straight-leg, I set about finding the top jeans trends of 2025, and the results were a particularly controversial bunch. If you had been hoping for the old classics recycled for another year, think again. Instead the next 12 months are all about pushing denim trends forward and turning up the volume (so that jean you thought you'd seen the back of might just make another appearance). From party pants to leg-lengthening details, keep scrolling to see the six jean trends set to get everyone talking now.

The 5 Top Jeans Trends of 2025, According to a Fashion Editor:

1. On a Drawstring

Style Notes: After we spent the majority of 2020 in joggers at home, 2022 was the year that we couldn't wait to get back into sculpting denim. High-waisted and straight-legged jeans became the look du jour, and even rumours of a return to skinnies drifted around fashion circles, but as the population settled back into the daily commute it became immediately clear that comfort and practicality are just as important as polish.

Style Notes: Low-slung, wide-leg jeans cropped up the runways the following year, but how low we really wanted to go was debatable. Still looking for an answer to the denim debacle? 2025's drawstring waist toes the line between lounge and luxe, and can be styled just as easily as wide-leg tailoring.

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2. Damsel in Distress

Style Notes: Acid wash, pale blue, inky indigos, and stone wash—whatever your colour preference, 2025 suggests that whatever jean style you gravitate to, it almost always looks best when it's been a little "lived in". Cool girls will agree, the best fitting denim is the love worn pair that has been broken in, and while loose-legged and relaxed fits are still the most popular silhouette, this time around they are bleached, ripped or worn down.

Style Notes: Instead of pairing them with band tees and tank tops to grunge effect, the S/S '25 runway did the opposite, dressing up distressed jeans with blazers and heels and elevating this casual jean into the evening-wear realm.

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3. Fifty Shades of Grey

Style Notes: It just wouldn't be a trend round up without at least one colour trend, and while we usually flit between true blue and black jeans for autumn/winter and ecru jeans for high summer, 2025 presents an alternative that works all year round: versatile grey.

Style Notes: No one shade reigns supreme, and the S/S runway shows everything from charcoal and slate to light cloud and mist, but if the number of grey options tells us anything, it's that this subtle, pared-back wash will be particularly popular over the next 12 months.

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4. Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Style Notes: As party season rolls around again, we encourage you to adopt the "Gen-Z approach" to evening styling. "Jeans and a nice top" might be a millennial fail-safe, but according to the new kids on the block, 2024 and 2025 are all about the "simple top and fun pair of trousers"—and what says fun more than bedazzled denim?

Style Notes: For most people 30 and over, embellished jeans feel inescapably Y2K, but the beauty of this eye-catching trend is fully leaning into the nostalgic, kitsch factor and pairing with playful pieces like oversized tops and colour pop accessories. These are the perfect piece to celebrate the joy of dressing up without suffering the cold in an ostentatious mini dress.

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5. Sweet Seams

Style Notes: Any detail that we spot reoccurring across shows and cities is immediately a trend worth taking note of, and while front seams might not have the wow-factor of crystal studded denim, they did pop up in some of the most influential shows of spring/summer 2025.

Style Notes: Simply adding another seam down the front of the leg, or moving the reinforced side seams altogether, creates a flattering silhouette that draws the eye line down and makes legs look longer (a win all round). And with so many pairs in a similar shade of true blue, there is also a slightly retro, western feel to the trend that looks especially cool with a tucked in shirt, good belt and pair of ankle boots. Saddle up, partner.

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