Denim is a timeless fabric that crosses boundaries from workwear to statement attire. This season, designers at New York Fashion Week spring 2026 shows turned the fabric into a moving canvas — giving it the high-design treatment with experimental silhouettes, dazzling embellishments and old-school rips. Clean lines prove that cotton denim continues to be one of the most revolutionary fabrics on the runway.
Some of the denim styles were fashion week art, while others were made to connect at retail. And some styles were a combination of both. As always, masterful designers reminded casual observers and denim enthusiasts alike of the versatility of this singular fabric.
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Alice + Olivia’s founder, creative director and chief executive officer, Stacey Bendet, presented her “ode to the American woman” at Surrogate’s Court. The 45-look collection included a slew of denim — featuring embroidery and embellishment, much of which was featured in its own vignette within the building’s Beaux Arts hall. Bendet said the inspiration for the spring 2026 denim came from her mother.
“There was this amazing picture of my mom in a Fred Leighton wedding gown — he did gowns before he did jewelry,” said Bendet. “She wore a pair of these amazing super-flair bell-bottom jeans under her wedding gown because all she wanted to do was leave and go on her honeymoon. And my whole life, I was just obsessed with bell-bottom pants and jeans. It’s this image that’s always in my mind. This season, I was really inspired by embroidery and embellishment because I’ve been using AI to design so much. I can literally take an image — a photo, anything — and turn it into embroidery so quickly with AI. So, I think it created this burst of inspiration because I can do so much.”
This translated into denim bottoms with a wide-leg, heat-set embellished jean, a dark rinse low-rise bell jean with a gold chain belt, a low-rise Brooklyn blue baggy jean with a side stripe and a floral embroidered and jewel-embellished high-rise bell-bottom jean.
At Nine Orchard’s rooftop, LoveShackFancy held a party-style presentation — the models wore Victorian meets Western looks. Designer and founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen said she was inspired by a Victorian dress with a Western belt that her mother used to dress her in when she was little.
Her spring 2026 collection was an homage and dedication to American girls — “romantic but not waiting to get rescued,” said Cohen.
The collection leans heavily into cotton and denim, with the idea that the individual garments would be collected, mixed together and “kept as heirloom pieces.” The brand’s denim bottoms include jeans and jean shorts, given the LoveShackFancy treatment with embroidery and ruffles.
“Denim is timeless, deeply personal and always iconic,” said Cohen. “It feels collected and found. Even though it evolves with trends, it always holds onto its classic appeal — which is so core to LoveShackFancy. The perfect pair of jeans has been a foundation of every woman’s wardrobe for decades and the right pair has the power to make you feel incredible. When we think about our girl across the country and how she dresses, we know she loves a great pair of jeans or jean shorts. That’s why it was so important to round out our spring collection with denim. We wanted to give her the pieces she already loves, but with a LoveShackFancy twist — lace appliqué, ruffle hems — to pair back to her lace tops, calico stripes and fringe jackets.”
Variety and newness are welcomed by today’s shoppers who, on average, have six pairs of denim jeans in their wardrobe. According to Cotton Incorporated’s 2025 Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, which polled 6,000 consumers, they typically buy two pairs of denim each year.
Nearly half of all consumers (49 percent) said that they plan to purchase new denim jeans for themselves in the coming year to replace jeans that are currently in their wardrobe, according to the Monitor™ research. They also want to buy new jeans to add to their denim jeans collection (26 percent).
The Maui x Lolita spring 2026 runway show, titled “Fly or Die,” featured several denim pieces — including denim hot pants, a belted mini skirt adorned with an embroidered butterfly, a high-low ruffled denim skirt, grommeted denim dresses and thigh-high denim boots.
“Women’s denim for spring is always a go,” said Lolita Malone, founder and head designer of Lolita. “With shorts, skirts even loose jeans in the spring — with denim you can’t lose. We’re going with more traditional blues. We have traditional and clean cuts, no rips. Even though you can dress up a ripped jean, we’re going with clean, elegant and straight lines for next season.”
Malone explained her choice to work with denim so often in her collections. “It’s made of natural fibers,” she said. “It’s something that’s classic, but we can still put a new spin on it. Who doesn’t love a good denim? Denim but make it new.”
More new denim was spotted at several other NYFW shows. At Tibi, designer Amy Smilovic and Traci Bui-Amar, her senior vice president of design, turned to Brutalist and Bauhaus architecture to inform the brand’s collection.
This distilled into denim bottoms that reflected the material’s sturdiness, which moved with a flourish. One look was a pair of loose-fitting ivory denim jeans with double zippers in front and an abstract expressionist design splattered all over. Another look was a light-washed clean denim in a true boyfriend cut, paired with a blazer.
At Veronica Beard, the collection was titled the “Gilded Edge.” Designers Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard offered softer tailoring — it’s described as having a boho feel. The denim bottoms give off a ‘70s vibe with pieces including an embellished pair, a cream and white high-waisted bottom, white wide-leg jeans and deep blue bell bottoms.
Collina Strada introduced denim in a collection called “Shade.” Designer Hillary Taymour sent voluminous denim cargos with peplum at the waist down the runway. The silhouette was repeated for its long cargo shorts.
Bringing extreme fraying back to the denim game, Area’s designer Nicholas Aburn brought glamour to some of its destroyed pieces, adding crystal embellishments at the slits along the thighs. Other bottoms were so frayed that it appeared the top would separate from the legs. And a mini skirt saw the legs of the jeans wrapped in a bow at the waist.
Theory presented relaxed, flared blue jeans. Meanwhile, Aknvas played with every aspect of silhouette and dimension, sending models down the runway in denim thigh boots paired with a short, flared denim dress and jeans with exaggerated lacing from thigh to cuff and wide-leg cargo jorts.
The ubiquitousness of denim at NYFW proves its staying power, not only with designers but also with consumers. Nearly three-quarters of shoppers (73 percent) said they prefer to go places where they can wear jeans, according to the Monitor™ research.
Consumers prefer pieces made from natural fibers, with 67 percent stating they prefer denim made from cotton or cotton blends. Shoppers also find cotton jeans to be the most sustainable or environmentally friendly (67 percent), the most authentic (64 percent), the highest quality (58 percent), the longest lasting (51 percent) and the most reliable (50 percent).
As Bendet pointed out in her presentation, denim is an integral part of American culture and history.
“That’s why I did a whole room in the show with denim. It’s supposed to represent American industry and American fashion — and how denim was the start of that. Denim is a huge part of American culture. I really believe in making clothes that are so special that a woman wants to keep them forever. I’m not making disposable tee shirts. I’m making things that you’re going to cherish for probably 20 years. And denim fits into that,” she concluded.
This article was supplied by Cotton Incorporated.