The recreation on the pitch at Tremendous Bowl on Sunday evening was solely half the story. Because the Philadelphia Eagles led 24-0 over the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, a pair of denims worn by the American rapper and Pulitzer prize winner Kendrick Lamar for his half-time efficiency commanded their very own crowd on-line.
Variously recognized as bootcut, flared and bell-bottomed, the pair of blue-wash denims had been the article of derision and lust. “Kendrick carrying bootcut denims was so particular,” mentioned the author and comic Sophia Benoit on social media. “I couldn’t take my eyes off his hems,” mentioned one other person.
As one TikTok person wrote: “Anybody know the model of those denims? The match? Wonderful. The flare? Immaculate. About to get them organized. Greatest advert for denims I’ve seen shortly.”
They had been additionally, in some commenters’ eyes, a noteworthy and moment-enhancing alternative for a efficiency that was hailed as history-making: Samuel L Jackson was wearing homage to Uncle Sam; backing dancers wore purple, white and blue and stood in an American flag formation, and Serena Williams crip walked.
The efficiency, which went out to the 65,000 followers within the Superdome in New Orleans, together with Donald Trump, and tens of millions extra at house, was additionally seen as a victory in his feud with the Canadian rapper Drake. Because the cultural critic Hunter Harris wrote on-line: “And he did all that in KICK FLARES!”
The denims, which pooled round a pair of Nike Air Max 96s, had been the work of luxurious trend label Celine and had been initially designed as a part of the womenswear spring/summer time 2024 assortment. Low-rise, made in Japan and costing £830, additionally they include a “uncooked hem” on the again, which gives the look of a too-long jean that has been scuffed as it’s trodden on – a glance that youngsters within the noughties will probably be all too aware of.
Whereas Dylan Kelly, an editor at Hypebeast, {a magazine} for males’s modern trend and streetwear, mentioned he personally loved a bootcut jean, he didn’t assume the typical American was able to see their favorite rapper in them. “And the discourse surrounding his outfit is proof of that,” he mentioned.
Whether or not the sight of those denims on such a historic world stage will galvanise a second for bootcut denims is dependent upon who you speak to. Arguably for some they’re already there: tendencies in denim are divisive, labyrinthine, consistently evolving and, as with so many issues, generational. Gen Z are discovering rather a lot to like 2000s types and popular culture, together with the lower of the period’s denims. Alternatively, those that maybe wore them first time round, accessorised with a trucker cap, appear much less more likely to have been enamoured.
On the lads’s catwalks, issues have been pivoting again to extra “indie sleaze” impressed skinny denims. However bootcut types are for the second reportedly nonetheless in style with luxurious customers: on menswear web site Mr Porter, buyer searches for bootcut denims have elevated by 346% up to now six months. On secondhand resale web site Depop, in style with youthful generations, “the recognition of the bootcut jean has been quietly effervescent underneath the radar over the previous few months”, in response to a spokesperson. Searches have elevated by 47% since December, with Diesel and Levi’s notably in style manufacturers, “however this tremendous high-profile endorsement appears to speed up it again to centre-stage as soon as once more”.
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Plus, they’re already proving in style in womenswear, with Vogue lately sounding the bootcut klaxon. Whereas Hole doesn’t presently have any males’s bootcut denims, it’s, in response to its head of shopping for Sapna Brooks, “seeing the development and gross sales develop immensely throughout girls’s and ladies, which signifies that they’re a method lots of people are after in the meanwhile”.
If anybody was on the fence about flared, bootcut denims earlier than, the sight of Lamar carrying them for such a momentous occasion made a compelling case. Given the chatter across the return of thin denims, Kelly is feeling optimistic about what has been a divisive trend second: “Whether or not or not you’re a fan of his look, I feel we must always all be grateful that Kendrick turned the tides towards a bootcut as a substitute.”
