Are skinny jeans making a comeback? We asked the ‘dark lord’ of denim

April 1, 2026 — 5:00am

Are skinny jeans coming back?

Street style snapped at January’s Paris Fashion Week.Getty Images

Fashion can be like the title character of the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot, the greatest no-show in theatre, or the series Game of Thrones, where people talk endlessly about winter coming while stabbing people in the sunshine. Over countless seasons, designers have tried to convince us that the skinny silhouette is back, reviving traumatic memories of having to lie flat on the floor just to zip oneself up while the clinging denim performs a sous-vide operation on your calves. So, are we waving goodbye to wide legs and putting a cork in barrel legs?

To cut through the confusion, I went straight to the Dark Lord of Denim himself, aka Paul O’Neill, Levi’s San Francisco-based design director. “Although we keep hearing about slim and skinny coming back, I’ve yet to see it really happen,” he says. “Wide legs and flares are still everywhere.”

O’Neill has even gone as far as inserting a panel into the classic Levi’s 501 silhouette, making it flare, to meet customer demand. “The new Blue Tab Women’s ’70s 501 looks fantastic and transforms an icon into something new and exciting,” he says. A pair will set you back a cool $700.

Fashion is currently in a state of flux, so if you feel most comfortable in a straight-leg style, stick to it; if a skinny leg makes you smile, try it out. Personally, I think I’m ready to return to the ’90s and embrace the boot-cut. “Like many things in life, there’s no right or wrong,” says O’Neill. “The most important thing is that your jeans feel right for you.”

Got a style conundrum? Email damien.woolnough@nine.com.au

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