Imagine jeans that aren’t just straight, but beautifully bent, artfully contorted, and, as their name aptly describes, delightfully twisted.
Forget perfectly straight denim; ‘twisted’ jeans embrace a unique silhouette where the legs gently curve inward, much like a graceful horseshoe. Picture your favorite pair, but with seams that boldly sweep to the front, almost as if they’re leaning in for a chat with your shoelaces. It’s a striking, wishbone-like arc that redefines the classic jean shape.
This distinctive, almost sculptural form is surprisingly making waves in the denim scene. From Swedish minimalist brand Cos, you can find a dramatic $169 pair with a pronounced swooping seam. Levi’s offers a more understated ‘twisted baggy wide leg’ style, featuring a subtle five-degree forward curve. For a high-fashion statement, Alaïa’s version comes with a hefty $1,400 price tag, showcasing mirror-image seams that slice across each leg like bold italic strokes.
Renowned French label Lemaire has long championed this aesthetic, consistently featuring their signature twisted denim pants with their distinctively curvaceous legs and convex seams on runways, touting them as a ‘Lemaire classic.’ The trend has also captivated newer, Instagram-savvy brands like New York’s Poolhouse, whose twisted ‘dad jeans’ evoke a playfully exaggerated silhouette, almost like something Popeye the Sailor Man might wear.
Luis Osuna, proprietor of Silverlake Market, a popular vintage boutique in Los Angeles, explains the allure: ‘It’s an instant gratification because you can look at somebody that’s wearing twisted jeans and know that they’re in twisted jeans because the seam is directly in front of you.’ Osuna, well-versed in the ‘prehistoric’ versions from Levi’s 1990s and 2000s collections (specifically their RED and Engineered lines), notes their resurgence. Much like the comeback of Onitsuka Tiger sneakers and ringer T-shirts, these Y2K-era bent jeans are seeing a revival, fetching hundreds of dollars. ‘It’s a subtle detail, but it communicates something,’ he observes.
Clockwise from top left, stylish iterations from fashion houses Cos, Alaïa, Lemaire, and the iconic Levi’s.
This ‘twisted’ denim phenomenon perfectly illustrates how even the slightest tweaks can ignite major fashion movements. A simple seam’s shift from side to front becomes a striking statement, a radical departure for those keenly attuned to sartorial nuances.
Rebekah Ressler, a Brooklyn-based vintage seller on Depop, finds the style surprisingly approachable. ‘It’s not so different that anyone couldn’t wear it,’ she remarks. She specializes in sourcing Levi’s Engineered jeans from Japan, noting a steady increase in their resale value over the past year, with recent sales hitting $150 per pair.
However, the rising demand means they’re ‘definitely getting harder to find, and they’re getting more expensive,’ Ressler adds.
New York content creator Elliot Duprey, who recently acquired a pair of black Lemaire twisted jeans, didn’t overthink his decision. For him, ‘It’s just a way to make wide-leg jeans interesting rather than just baggy.’ He simply finds the bowed silhouette ‘so cool.’
Of course, this surging popularity might also be a clever strategy by brands to encourage continuous consumption, subtly implying that your existing baggy jeans are no longer quite ‘fresh’ enough.
Amy Leverton, owner of Denim Dudes, a fashion forecasting consultancy, explains the industry’s perspective: ‘It’s that classic thing of ‘Hey, we’re a brand, we’ve had the baggy, that’s had its headlines, what the hell do we do now?’ This one is very much about updating the baggy.’ It’s an evolution, not a revolution.
While it feels fresh, this style isn’t entirely new. Denim industry veteran Rikke Korff actually pioneered the original twisted shape way back in 1999 while working for Levi’s. The patent for this distinctive design, filed by Levi’s that year, officially recognizes Ms. Korff as its inventor.
Korff aimed to create a construction that was ‘really modern, really simple and, at the same time, had a feeling of being hyper-functional.’ Her inspiration came from observing authentically aged Levi’s shrink-to-fit 501s, which naturally developed a desirable bow in their seams after repeated washes and wear. This organic distortion sparked her innovative design.
“When I heard that, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is brilliant — I can use it,’” she exclaimed. Her groundbreaking design boldly redefined the traditional jean fit, featuring a deliberately drooped seat and side seams that dramatically curved forward, like a car skillfully navigating a turn.
The resulting jeans had a somewhat ‘steampunk’ vibe – a term that could be polarizing – characterized by architectural panels and articulated seams, reminiscent of a robot’s shell. Levi’s even launched them with a memorable, almost surreal ad campaign depicting models whose limbs twisted like clock hands, emphasizing the unique silhouette.
Yet, there’s a distinct craving among younger generations for the intricate, ‘convoluted’ denim styles of the ’90s. It’s more than just a nostalgic longing; it’s a quest for something visually captivating, a refreshing alternative to the commonplace straight-leg jeans saturating today’s market.
Ms. Leverton confirms, ‘It’s very much mirroring that late ’90s, early noughties era, when design was more complex and more creative, honestly.’ It’s a return to an era of bold experimentation in denim.
Osuna observes that his generation is drawn to archival British fashion magazines like The Face, not just for the editorial content but for the advertisements themselves. These pages, he notes, showcase ‘twisted, paneled jeans with crazy pocket details, stuff with big buckle backs’ – designs that were truly avant-garde for their time.
He adds, ‘A lot of those things were design references from vintage but taken into, like, a whole other realm,’ highlighting the innovative spirit of that period.
Rikke Korff eventually departed Levi’s four years after the twisted jeans’ debut to forge her own path as a designer. Despite moving on, the iconic RED jeans remain a creation she can’t quite leave behind.
She frequently receives inquiries from individuals interested in creating new versions or copies, a testament to the design’s enduring appeal. Overall, she’s delighted to witness the twisted concept continue to evolve and thrive in today’s fashion landscape.
“It’s now just in the ether,” she concludes, acknowledging that her innovative design has become a fluid, adaptable element of contemporary style, embraced and reinterpreted by countless creators.