Low-rise jeans are officially back, but no one is sure how to feel about it

April 15, 2022 Mary

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Whether your hips are ready or not — personally, mine are not — fashion brands, and particularly denim brands, have decided the low-rise jean is back. And celebrities from Julia Fox to Dua Lipa, and even the fictional characters of “Euphoria,” agree.

For Australian-based denim brand ABrand Jeans, its low-rise jean has proved so successful, that it led the brand to pivot its strategy. Now, ABrand Jeans focuses on the low-rise look, which differentiates it from other denim brands. A dedicated section of its menu bar is solely dedicated to the style. Initially, the team trialed low-rise styles a year ago and found it was a “bit early.” So it waited and perfected the fit, said Caitlin Johns, the brand’s marketing manager. In August and September 2021, the brand officially released its low-rise category. “We saw a huge influx of interest as soon as it hit the market. We sold out of our first run within the first month, and we had to re-order everything straightaway. So we could see the interest and we pivoted everything toward low-rise,” she said.

According to the trend-tracking agency Trendalytics, low-rise jeans are a “high volume trend,” seeing an average of 44,000 weekly searches on Google, a 28% increase from last year. “Trending styles include low-rise flare jeans (+100% from last year), low-rise wide-leg jeans (+90% from last year) and low-rise baggy jeans (+42% from last year). Low-rise mini skirts (+452% from last year), low-rise skirts (+242% from last year), low-rise trousers (+178% from last year) and low rise pants (+124% to last year) are also experiencing growth,” said Kristin Breakell, content manager at Trendalytics.

“Social buzz for the trend is up 49% from last year, and market adoption is up 4% in the last 30 days,” Breakell added.

On TikTok, the hashtag #lowrisejeans has 135.2 million views. Not all of the posts are Gen Zers with zero body fat eagerly re-adopting the early 2000s trend, either. In fact, the first post I saw when I searched the hashtag was a video from user @jihoneysweet with 1.4 million likes. “I really want to wear low-rise jeans,” the opening text reads. Then, “What’s stopping you?” and the response, “✨ belly fat ✨.” Another TikTok post mocks the difference between standing and sitting in low-rise jeans. There are also videos featuring shopping hauls and styling tips. Influencer @katebartlett (1.2 million followers) has shown her followers how she styles the look with a pair of the trendy jeans, from Revolve. She prefaced her post by saying, “Today I’m going to do something that scares me a lot.”

The style has also become a conversation starter. “The low-rise is what’s helping really get [ABrand’s] socials going. Before that, when we just had high-waisted jeans, we didn’t see as much of a reaction,” Johns said. “We also didn’t see many girls posting and tagging them. We’re seeing all the tags coming through now, and a lot of girls post on TikTok in them because it’s such a trend right now. And it’s great because we see all the comments come flooding through asking, ‘What jeans are these?’”

Revice Denim has also seen success reintroducing low-rise jeans. Its social posts perform best when they show full looks and how the jeans look in context. “We are having a lot of mixed reviews! The younger generation is loving the comeback of the low rise, whereas the older generation is having mixed feelings. To grab the customer’s eye with this specific product, it’s all about how you style the entire look and not just focusing on the product alone. The full outfit is what sells low rise the best,” said Lauren Maenner, Revice’s marketing director.

At ABrand, Johns said, though customers sometimes enter the low-rise space trepidatiously, their enthusiasm often grows. The category’s growth has remained consistent since its initial sellout, she said. “If anything, we’re just seeing more growth.” Since the style has been so successful, the brand plans to introduce low-rise mini skirts, cargo pants, shorts and baggier-legged styles.

“A lot of people are terrified [to wear low rise], but they’re getting used to it. It’s just a bit of a shock,” Johns said. Still, some have even come to prefer the early-aughts style. “A lot of girls do find low-rise comfortable because it’s less restricting on your stomach. If you get bloated, if you have a big meal — whatever — you can just let it all free,” she said.