Jeans - Diesel
Dictating one-note denim trends has been a fool's game for many
years; brands, washes, treatments and technologies around jeans
have proliferated so comprehensively that you can't distill a
season to one look or label. You can still sometimes divine a mood
though, and this summer's characterized by a fresh focus on raw
denim on the one hand, and torn and otherwise disheveled jeans on
the other. Diesel combines the two in this specimen from their new
DNA ("dirty new age") denim range. The label has employed "denim
painters" in Italy to splash paint on their 14 oz raw denim, which
is then put through a series of processes, including drumming to
soften the fabric.
Vivienne Westwood opted for paint splattered denim and overalls. Her Anglomania collaboration with lee involves deep ink denim or paint splattered baggy jeans styled down with denim waistcoats (while lee's own 101 collection retooled '50s looks for dark denim this spring). Belgium's Dries Van Noten nodded to skinheads with jeans and jackets in 'snow- washed' denim, while D&G showed dark cut-off denim shorts with stylishly worn out holes and tears.
Gap, True Religion and Calvin Klein are all offering rough-around-the-edges jeans. Evisu's re-launch sees straight-legged fits in authentically faded washes, while PRPs stick to the beautifully-aged, hardwearing, workwear-inspired pairs they do best. Jeans with an inbuilt appearance of history, whether personal or cultural, are again making strides this summer.
