This Spring's Denim Trends Are the Anti-Basic Antidote to the Classics
They satisfy your craving for nostalgia and the itch to shop for something new.


The age-old tenet of ‘classic with a twist’ underpins the spring 2025 trends. Spring’s pastels are sharper, brighter punches of color. This season’s shoes spruce up fashion’s longtime favorites, and its It bags harken back to bygone eras but with a few modern tune-ups. The spring 2025 denim trends follow the same practice of reworking the past to fit the present, satisfying both a craving for nostalgia and an itch to shop for something new.
This was exemplified most astutely in Paris, where the best jeans were bejeweled with constellations of crystals at Chanel, and high-waisted denim was given a ‘70s boho kick at Chloé. Denim had brocade cuff trims at Acne Studios, a brand with noted influence on denim trends. Aläia took its best wide-leg jeans and added even more legroom, offering bigger, baggier pairs as second-best alternatives for when your well-worn Hanes sweatpants need a wash. Speaking of: midway through the Gabriela Hearst Spring 2025 show came a loose pair of stretchy, drawstring denim, not all that dissimilar to the viral sweatpants jeans the internet’s currently fixated on.
The takeaway from this spring's denim trends is that they’re attainable steps up from the pairs you already own—like the blue jeans you’ve worn for years but with a new point of view that’ll give you a leg up this season. Keep scrolling for the specific silhouettes to shop and styling tips pulled straight from the Spring 2025 runways.
Navel-Grazing
Low-rise naysayers, rejoice. Waistlines hit firmly at the hip and higher this spring. Acne Studios, Chanel, and Chloé are the brands raising the bar with this trend, offering true blue, ivory, and black bottoms that sit snugly at the belly button.
Lots of Leg Room
Despite any hubbub you're hearing from the very outspoken skinny denim agenda, baggy jeans are not going anywhere—in fact, legs will be getting even looser. Look to Stella McCartney, Aläia, Gabriela Hearst, and Bottega Veneta, who all sent out pairs that billowed with excess fabric.
Skirts of All Sorts
For spring 2025, the best denim skirt is any pair you can get your paws on. A floor-sweeping maxi, a sensible knee-length midi—you name it, and the silhouette works for the almost-summer season. However, fashion fans will grant you bonus points if you find one with a more maximal flourish, like Michael Kors's rosette-adorned skirt or Ganni's graphic midi that champions the animal print trend's proliferation.
Sands of Time
An hourglass shape always delivers an elegant and feminine look, and a brigade of designers played with the cinched-in silhouette. Notably, Schiaparelli sculpted denim into sultry, figure-hugging gowns, while Simone Rocha posited that the best spring jacket is a jean one with a nipped-in waist and clusters of crystals.
Put a Pin in It
The beauty of pin-tuck denim is the structure of the front ridge mimics the tailored look of a sharp trouser. Bally did it best with its medium-wash straight-leg jeans styled with a cherry red cardigan and pointed-toe Mary Janes—an inimitable outfit prime for mixing into your spring outfit rotation.
Anti-Basic Blue Jeans
Another clear thread through this spring's trends is pieces with personality. Denim-wise, that means bejeweled baggy jeans, chambray shirts—think Chanel and Stella McCartney, and subversive silhouettes that trick the eye from designers like Schiaparelli and Acne Studios.
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Emma is the fashion features editor at Marie Claire, where she explores the intersection of style and human interest storytelling. She covers viral styling hacks and zeitgeist-y trends—like TikTok's "Olsen Tuck" and Substack's "Shirt Sandwiches"—and has written hundreds of runway-researched trend reports about the ready-to-wear silhouettes, shoes, bags, colors, and coats to shop for each season. Above all, Emma enjoys connecting with real people to yap about fashion, from picking an indie designer's brain to speaking with athlete stylists, entertainers, artists, politicians, chefs, and C-suite executives about finding a personal style as you age or reconnecting with your clothes postpartum.
Emma previously wrote for The Zoe Report, Editorialist, Elite Daily, Bustle, and Mission Magazine. She studied Fashion Studies and New Media at Fordham University Lincoln Center and launched her own magazine, Childs Play Magazine, in 2015 as a creative pastime. When Emma isn't waxing poetic about niche fashion discourse on the internet, you'll find her stalking eBay for designer vintage, reading literary fiction on her Kindle, doing hot yoga, and "psspsspssp-ing" at bodega cats.
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