Designer jeans are high-fashion
jeansJeans are pants, or trousers, made from denim. Mainly designed for work, they became popular among teenagers starting in the 1950s. Historic brands include Levi's and Wrangler....
. The Nakash brothers (Joe, Ralph, and Avi) are generally credited with starting the trend when they launched their
JordacheJordache Enterprises, Inc. is a clothing company that manufactures apparel including shirts, jeans, and outerwear...
line of jeans in 1978. Designer jeans are cut for women and men and are often worn more fitted than traditional jeans, though relaxed cuts are available. They sometimes feature designer names or logos on the back pockets and on the right front coin-pocket.
During the early rise to prominence of designer jeans, in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, it was fairly typical to see fashions for men follow those for women, just as previously women had been the first to wear flared and bell-bottomed trousers.
Designer jeans are high-fashion
jeansJeans are pants, or trousers, made from denim. Mainly designed for work, they became popular among teenagers starting in the 1950s. Historic brands include Levi's and Wrangler....
. The Nakash brothers (Joe, Ralph, and Avi) are generally credited with starting the trend when they launched their
JordacheJordache Enterprises, Inc. is a clothing company that manufactures apparel including shirts, jeans, and outerwear...
line of jeans in 1978. Designer jeans are cut for women and men and are often worn more fitted than traditional jeans, though relaxed cuts are available. They sometimes feature designer names or logos on the back pockets and on the right front coin-pocket.
Late 1970s to early 1980s
During the early rise to prominence of designer jeans, in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, it was fairly typical to see fashions for men follow those for women, just as previously women had been the first to wear flared and bell-bottomed trousers. For example, Jordache initially marketed their products to women only, but soon followed with a line for men that was very similar in overall appearance to the women's. Given the general tendency toward bagginess in men's pants today, this male-after-female trend is less noticeable; nevertheless, most jeans companies have offered low-rise cuts for men in recent years.
Within a few years of the Jordache launch, dozens of other brands were on the market; among them were:
- Sergio Valente
- Sasson
Sasson is a hebrew name which means happiness.The name Sasson can refer to:*Isaac Sasson - a Lebanese leader of the Jewish community*Jean Sasson - an American*Steven Sasson - the inventor of the digital camera...
- Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Morgan Vanderbilt is an American artist, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
- Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Calvin Klein also gave his name to a range of perfumes, including CK One and CK Be , now owned by Coty Inc...
- Guess?
Guess is an American name-brand clothing line. Guess also markets other fashion accessories besides clothes, such as watches and jewelry. They also own the line Marciano.-The beginning:...
- Diesel
Racy, suggestive advertisements promoted many of the brands.
Today
In the late 1980s, designer jeans lost popularity. Beginning in the 1990s with
Helmut LangHelmut Lang may refer to:* Helmut Lang , Austrian-born fashion designer* Helmut Lang , brand created by Helmut Lang in 1986...
and into the early 2000s, they started coming back into fashion, with specialty brands such as
Citizens of HumanityFounded by Jerome Dahan, Citizens of Humanity designs and globally distributes seasonal denim and fashion collections for women and men, including a women’s knit collection. Dahan was previously head of design for Lucky Brand, and one of the co-founders of 7 For All Mankind. In 2003, Dahan launched...
,
Cheap MondayCheap Monday is a Swedish clothing label. It was founded in 2000 by Örjan Andersson, originally as a second-hand clothing store, in a suburb of Stockholm. The name of the brand originates from the fact that the original store was only open on Sunday...
,
Chip and PepperChip and Pepper Foster , better known simply as Chip and Pepper, are Canadian, identical twin businesspeople...
,
DieselDiesel S.p.A. is an Italian design company. It is best known for clothing aimed at the young adult market, particularly jeans, but the brand can now be found on everything from underwear to fragrances...
,
Dorinha Jeans WearDorinha Jeans Wear is a clothing company and label based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dale R. Reynolds is the company's co-owner, marketing director and promotional/fashion photographer....
,
EllecidEllecid is a brand of women's custom designer jeans. The company's premium jeans are made to order and are available in a variety of fits, washes, pocket styles and seam options...
,
EnergieEnergie can refer to:* Energie clothing, Italian brand of clothing* Énergie, a French-language brand of rhythmic top 40 radio in Quebec* The FC Energie Cottbus, a German football club...
,
EvisuEvisu or Evisu Genes is a Japanese designer clothing company that specializes in producing premium denim wear through traditional, labor-intensive methods....
,
Guess?Guess is an American name-brand clothing line. Guess also markets other fashion accessories besides clothes, such as watches and jewelry. They also own the line Marciano.-The beginning:...
, Ksubi, Lucky Jeans,
Mavi JeansMavi Jeans is a famous brand of denim jeans founded in 1991, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.Mavi Jeans designs a full collection of jeans wear, for young women and men...
,
Nudie JeansNudie Jeans is a Swedish premium clothing brand and a subsidiary of Svenska Jeans AB, founded in 1999 by Maria Erixsson, a former employee and AD of Lee Europe and Swedish designer JC. As of 2003, the company had 12 employees, revenue of 93 million Swedish kronor and a net income of 13.6 million...
,
PRPSPrps is a New York-based luxury denim brand which was established in 2003, and was founded by former Nike designer, Donwan Harrell. The brand motto is "Bruised, never broken"....
, Replay,
Rock and RepublicRock & Republic is an American jeans brand founded by fashion mogul Michael Ball in 2002. Good friend Andrea Bernholtz serves as the company's president. Prior to starting the company, Ball was an avid cyclist who gained design experience by creating his cycling team's uniforms...
,
Samurai JeansSamurai Jeans is a Japanese jeans brand, founded in 1997. Their collection exists of various models of unwashed denim. Most of the cuts are based on the traditional workwear....
,
Seven for All Mankind7 For All Mankind is brand of a designer jeans owned since 2007 by the VF Corporation...
,
Taverniti So JeansTaverniti So Jeans is a sportswear collection from Jimmy Taverniti, who also sells Taverniti Couture. Known for his garment-dying and stonewashing techniques, Taverniti has focused on jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants and stretch silk tops...
,
True ReligionTrue Religion Brand Jeans is an American premium clothing line, established in December of 2002 by Jeffrey Lubell.In the winter of 2002, True Religion debuted its denim products from its Los Angeles base. It now produces jackets, blazers, sweatshirts, t-shirts, shoes, and accessories in addition to...
, and
William RastWilliam Rast is a Los Angeles, California based clothing company founded by Justin Timberlake and Trace Ayala most known for their premium jeans....
.
A few of the original designer brands, namely Jordache, Calvin Klein, and Dittos, are also coming back with the designs that made them popular.
- Calvin Klein reproduced/reissued their old design of the loop stitched pocket as a throwback to the 1980s style and named them Omega jeans. The differences are that the copper rivets at the back pocket were taken out, no double stitches appear at the both side of the jeans, and the back pockets were redesigned with a bit of slanting to the edge.
- In August 2007, Jordache completed a prominent advertising campaign featuring supermodel Heidi Klum
Heidi Samuel is a German model who is an actress, television host, business woman, fashion designer, television producer, artist, and occasional singer...
, photographed in the Chateau Marmont.
- Dittos jeans, in their trademark assortment of bright colors, are now available at Saks Fifth Avenue.