The Domination of Denim

They were created in San Francisco as sturdy workwear for miners, factory workers, and Wild West cowboys. They were popularized by actor James Dean, who defined them as a symbol of teenagerdom and rebellion in America through his movies like Rebel Without A Cause. Later, they were more widely accepted and a particular style called bell-bottoms became the uniform of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Today, celebrities practically live in $100+ pairs of them, and many sell their own lines. Over the years, jeans and denim have evolved from apparel for laborers to quintessential, All-American wardrobe staples. Jeans are the ultimate in casual wear, and denim is ubiquitous: jean trends come and go, but denim seems to be forever.

Despite their massive popularity, jeans have always been a casual affair. But, as today’s haute couture designers walk jean-clad models down the runway, could denim’s role in fashion be changing before our very eyes? When high fashion brands like Chanel seize the street style aesthetic of denim and bring it to the forefront of fashion, are they making denim chic? Are we living in a day and age where I can not only dress up my jeans, but also wear them as couture pieces?

Britney and Justin’s indescribable, coordinated denim look on the red carpet in 2001 is what I used to think of when I imagined fancy, dressed-up denim. Dressy denim was an idea about as ridiculous as Justin’s fedora. Maybe it’s because of denim’s blue-collar roots; Workwear isn’t appropriate for formal or semi-formal occasions. Dressy events require a level of polished-ness that jeans—with their rips, frays, and mismatched patches —didn’t have. Like this ensemble, it just didn’t seem to work.

These days, it’s fairly commonplace to see a dressy pair of jeans. A good pair of heels and a nice, clean-cut pair of skinny jeans (like the outfit below) easily convinces me that denim can look smart and professional. As the idea of “dressing up your jeans” becomes more and more common, I think it’s important to take into consideration why jeans were not acceptable as more than casualwear in the past. Since their history as work pants precedes them, the key to chic denim is in the fit and the look. A good dressy denim look should come straight out of a catalogue and not an apple orchard. It should remind a person of denim’s fashionable future and not its industrial past.

Thus, as denim enters the high fashion world, couturiers must transform it into pieces that are innovative, artistic, and not kitschy. Design houses like seem to be doing just that. Alexander McQueen brings luxury to denim through ornate embroidery. Jean Paul Gaultier manages to make a studded denim vest avant-garde. And, fortunately, the patchwork denim pieces of today (like this one by Phillip Lim) are more reminiscent of Piet Mondrian than of a scarecrow’s overalls.

From left to right: Valentino, $3,590; Isabel Marant, $305; Alexander McQueen, $2,165

Maybe we, as a society, are still not ready for the pioneering spirits of 2001 Britney and Justin. But, as more and more designers give denim the couture treatment, I’m beginning to think that denim’s future in high fashion is brighter than I’d expected. With denim’s ever-evolving role in fast fashion in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if Britney and Justin’s look came back in a few years. Perhaps it won’t be as tacky the next time around.

FashionPatricia Tangjeans, denim