Inside the polarizing return of low-rise jeans

By now, you’ve surely noticed it. Jean waistlines, sky-high not so long ago, are going lower. Low enough that you might need to think of underwear as outerwear. 

Across the fashion industry, experts agree that in 2026, ultra-low-rise will be a key business driver in the denim sector, with some brands saying that their low-rise styles have replaced the eternally popular high-rise as their best selling cut.

“What we’re going to see in this next decade is [it’ll be] really dominated by the low-rise,” says Amy Williams...