The Jeans Styles That Will Be Huge for Late 2026 and Spring 2027

By Ella Blake – Senior Fashion Stylist & Founder | Tellar — Always honest, unbiased & unsponsored post

The jeans that will dominate late 2026 and spring 2027 are relaxed barrel and wide-leg shapes, a quiet revival of the bootcut, and clean tailored straight legs — all moving away from skinny and ultra-cropped silhouettes towards longer, fluid, floor-grazing proportions. If you only update one thing in your denim drawer this year, make it the leg shape, because that is where the whole mood has shifted.

I've styled denim through skinny's reign, the great Y2K low-rise comeback and the wide-leg wave, and I can tell you this next stretch feels less about one "It" jean and more about getting the proportion, wash and hem exactly right. Here's everything worth knowing before you spend a penny.

The silhouettes leading the charge

Volume is still the headline, but it's becoming more considered. We're done with baggy-for-the-sake-of-it; the new shapes have intention behind them.

Barrel and curved-leg jeans — roomy through the thigh, tapering gently at the ankle. The most modern shape going, and far more flattering than a flat wide leg because that curve does the styling work for you.
Bootcut and soft flares — back with a properly boho energy after the Chloé effect rippled through the high street. High-rise at the waist, gentle kick at the hem, brilliant with a pointed boot or even a loafer.
Tailored straight and stovepipe — the clean, almost trouser-like cut for anyone who finds volume a faff. Think a sharp 90s straight leg that reads polished with a blazer.
Longer, floor-grazing lengths — the cropped raw-hem jean is genuinely on the way out. Length is everything for late 2026.

Washes and colours: read the season

This is where late 2026 and spring 2027 split, and it's the easiest way to look current without overhauling your wardrobe.

Deep, saturated indigo and raw denim for autumn/winter — heritage and workwear-inspired finishes are dominating the mills, and a rich dark wash instantly looks expensive.
Light, faded blue washes as the fresh colour story — the chicest dressers are dressing these up rather than treating them as weekend-only.
Butter yellow, soft stripes and lighter shirting weights coming through for spring 2027 — the early trade previews are full of them, so expect them in stores from late spring.
Black and crisp white — never not relevant, and the safest investment if you hate chasing trends.

The details that make or break it

Hems: clean, finished hems are replacing frayed, distressed ones. A raw cut hem on a straight leg still works; aggressive ripping looks dated.
Rise: mid-rise is the sweet spot — more wearable and more modern than the ultra-low-rise revival, which feels niche now.
Drawstring waists: no longer a fad, they're a proper category and going nowhere.
Denim-on-denim: double denim is fully back, plus denim jackets in sharper, more structured shapes.

My honest take (a win and a fail)

My biggest denim fail? Clinging to a pair of ankle-grazer skinnies for two years past their moment because they were "comfy" — they quietly aged every outfit I put them with. My best ever win was a £30 pair of vintage Levi's 501s from a Brighton market that I tailored to a perfect straight leg; I've worn them weekly for years and they still look better than half the new denim I'm sent. The lesson: shape and fit beat newness every single time. Don't buy the trend — buy the cut that suits you, in this year's proportion.

Where to actually buy — my brand edit

I've picked these on fit, denim quality and how well each one nails the shapes above — not by who shouts loudest.

High street & affordable

Levi's — the originals, and unbeatable for barrel, straight and the new curved-leg shapes at a sensible price.
Gap — quietly brilliant denim right now; their relaxed and bootcut fits in clean washes are a genuine bargain.
Abercrombie & Fitch — the high-street favourite for fit, with an enormous range of waist and length options, so petite and tall shoppers are sorted.
Mango — the place for trend-led shapes (barrel, soft flare) before anyone else, at a price that won't sting if the trend moves on.
COS — minimalist, architectural straight and wide legs in beautiful heavyweight denim for that quiet-luxury look.
Marks & Spencer — my first stop for petite and tall denim; reliable fits, great mid-rise straights and excellent value.
Anthropologie — home to in-house label Pilcro, which is seriously underrated for flares and characterful washes.
Reiss — for an elevated, tailored straight leg that bridges casual and smart effortlessly.

Premium

Citizens of Humanity — the connoisseur's denim; their 90s-inspired tailored and relaxed fits are some of the best-cut jeans money can buy.
Paige — Californian denim with genuinely flattering rises and a soft, broken-in feel from day one.
Me+Em — for grown-up, polished denim that works for the office and beyond; their straight legs are spot on.

Luxury & designer

Khaite — the designer reference point for the perfect tailored and cuffed straight leg.
Frame — the gold standard for an elevated bootcut and crisp white denim.
Toteme — Scandinavian minimalism in denim form; clean, expensive-looking, endlessly wearable.

Two independents worth knowing

I always like to send you somewhere off the beaten track, and these two are doing it properly:

E.L.V. Denim — a London independent crafting one-of-a-kind jeans entirely from reclaimed denim. Genuinely sustainable, genuinely cool, and the patchwork straight legs are right on trend.
Still Here — the New York label that practically invented the modern drawstring jean. Relaxed, characterful and unlike anything on the high street.

The bit most people skip: getting the fit right

Here's the truth no trend report tells you — the perfect shape in the wrong size will still look wrong. Denim sizing is wildly inconsistent between brands, and a "size 12" at one label can be two sizes out at another. That's exactly why I built Tellar.

Find your exact size in 1,500+ brands — for free

Tellar is the UK's leading sizing tool: measure once and your body is instantly matched to over 1,500 brands, so you never squint at a confusing size guide again.

Measure once — using bust, waist, hip, or just an existing brand size you know fits.
Use the Store Size Lookup to get your precise size in any brand — COS, Reiss, Everlane, Arket and more.
Always free, no downloads — it works straight in your browser.

Visit Tellar • Try the Store Size Lookup

More from the Tellar Fashion Hub

The Tellar Fashion Hub is a library stacked with free posts from our top stylists. Honest, unbiased, independent and always free — style advice, top picks and the best brands for every fashion query. A few you might like next:

Now go find your perfect pair — and remember, the right cut in the right size is the whole game.