‘Denim will always read as a more individual, more adventurous choice, so you can use it to add edge to “straight” outfits’
Denim can be many things – timelessly cool, perennially useful – but smart isn’t generally one of them. Denim stands for the outdoors, freedom, rebellion: the antithesis of what we need to look smart for. This is not just me projecting, either. Look at denim – feel it: the very texture is weathered and rugged, like sunshine and showers. A fine wool-mix, by contrast, feels homogeneous and smooth, like air-conditioning. That’s why people wear jeans to the office on Fridays: it sends the message that you’re a free spirit, about to ride off into the sunset to pursue your dreams. Which, on a Friday, you sort of are, even if you’re just riding home on your bike to order a takeaway.
But, this season, denim is looking uncharacteristically establishment. This started on the Burberry catwalk, where denim jackets came smartly waisted, nipped into the hourglass shape of classic haute couture tailoring, and were worn with sequined skirts. Context is everything, and this particular catwalk moment was an image that subtly recalibrated the meaning of denim. While jeans were domesticated and harnessed to the yoke of designer fashion long ago, the denim jacket has until now been a symbol of youthful rebellion.
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