Denim Dudes: Skinny Jeans, Western and Indie Sleaze Evolve for Fall/Winter 25-26
Moody styling, western elements and a divisive skinny jean revival are on their way to renew the denim industry.
At Kingpins Amsterdam last week, Denim Dudes founder Amy Leverton and trend forecaster Shannon Reddy shared their Fall/Winter 2025-2026 forecast, outlining the cultural influences, online narratives and independent designers shaping the new season.
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Previously commissioned by Kingpins, the trend forecast is now owned by Denim Dudes and is available directly through its own platform and events. The firm is planning to launch a full subscription-based website in the fall.
From a sober twist on Indie Sleaze to designers placing morals before profit, here’s a closer look at the trends and their drivers for F/W 25-26, according to Denim Dudes.
Avant Activist
Each year that goes by Gen Z is gaining more power and influence on policies and processes, Leverton said. Real-time events from the pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses, the U.S. effort to ban or force the sale of TikTok and global elections to the fashion industry’s rotation of creative directors that leave no room for young creatives to bring their vision to life are weighing on the future of design.
“Instead of self-preservation by turning the other cheek or seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, this generation of creatives is really channeling these feelings of instability, disappointment and frustration into a new chapter of fashion history,” Reddy said.
Tremaine Emory’s exit from VF-owned Supreme due to systemic racism at the company is an example of how millennials and Gen are not shying away from “airing their grievances” and becoming more “open-minded to alternative futures,” she added.
“He really just showed that compromising our morals and values is not worth the money and the clout and the fancy director titles,” she said.
This mindset is translating into Avant Activist, a trend story that relies on extreme styling, aggressive design and AI-inspired concepts. “Moody silhouettes, a lot of layered styling—it’s very apocalyptic and protective with lots of dark colors, coatings, blackened indigos and tonal darks like reds and greens,” Leverton said. It’s also a continuation of the edgy artisanal looks that blew up in 2020 when “bedroom makers” were upcycling and deconstructed jeans at home. “I really think that has changed denim design forever,” she said.
Avant Activist also calls for experimental surfaces, spray washes, airbrush graffiti and aggressive high-lows that Leverton said feed off from the noughties trends.
Collections by Masha Popova and Paolina Russo, Leverton added, are giving denim heads so much to look at because you can see how jeans were pin-tucked, lasered and overdyed to achieve their bold looks. “We love this new generation coming up who are approaching the worn, destroyed, stained vintage look from a completely fun and like playful angle,” she said.
Reframed Archives
Described as anti-fashion and anti-trend, Reframed Archives mirrors societal shifts away from celebrity culture, worship consumerism and instant gratification, Reddy said. Rather, this backlash to quiet luxury and elitism is more wholesome and eclectic, focused on personal style and authenticity.
“The denim industry is rooted deeply in history and heritage, meaning that if you look back at its history, it has been dictated over the years by brands, by certain voices, trends and by the fashion media,” Leverton said. New generations of consumers are picking and choosing what they are excited about and shining a spotlight on brands that were maybe overlooked, however.
“These old rules and references are dissolving, and eras are joining together. History is being viewed through a new lens and people are really redefining what vintage is,” Reddy said.
Silverlake Market in Echo Park in Los Angeles is an example of this fusion, where young vintage sellers are curating vintage Carhartt and Levi’s 501s alongside jeans by JNCO and G-Star Raw. “They’re just mixing it all up together and it’s so refreshing to see that mix,” Leverton said. “What you’re paying for is that seller’s eye and that seller’s point of view.”
Reframed Archives calls for Harrington jackets styled with jeans, traditional camouflage, “a touch of collegiate” and “gentrified Carhartt,” a theme that Leverton said shows how vintage and resale trends are influencing high-end brands.
Western accents also help tell the theme’s city-meets-upstate aesthetic. While Beyoncé and Louis Vuitton have amplified the country look this year, Reddy said Western is a staple in U.S. and especially L.A. fashion. The main shift now is how Western is picking up a “Copenhagen Fashion Week vibe” and how more vintage sellers in Europe are curating western pieces.
Terminally Online
Terminally Online examines the influence of internet culture and how it’s a form of fantasy, escapism, and distraction in fashion. The theme “acts as a rejection to the runway-to-rack traditional structure of trends” and instead sees trends begin online and gain momentum on social media, Reddy said.
“Aesthetically, it’s a really scrappy, rebellious, anarchic, ironic and alternative approach toward fashion and culture,” she said.
As an online-inspired trend, near nostalgia is a running theme in Terminally Online.
Indie sleaze, the late 2000s rocker-meets-hipster Tumblr aesthetic, is returning but the hedonistic lifestyle is out. Leverton said Gen Z and Gen Alpha are emulating the look rather than partaking in the heavy partying and drinking the trend was originally associated with.
“It’s more about the attitude and prevalence of a less serious and carefree time that’s fueling this Indie Sleaze revival,” Reddy said. “At a time of political and economic uncertainty and the climate crisis, it makes sense that young people are looking back to times when they felt more secure and more alive.”
Swag Era, the mid-2000s trend driven by Jay Z and Soulja Boy and further perpetuated by fast-fashion and streetwear, is making a comeback as well. Coined by skinny jeans, flannel shirts, nerd glasses, vintage-inspired snapbacks and Chicago Bulls apparel, Leverton described the aesthetic as “the jeanswear and streetwear sister to Indie Sleaze.”
Speaking of a quick turnaround, just four years after Gen Z’s takedown of skinny jeans, the form-fitting fit is back with a Gen Z twist. Contemporary interpretations have stacked legs, thicker stitches and layered belts that Reddy said are done in a “more artful way.”
“It doesn’t feel cheesy,” she said.
