All signs point to a strong fall season for the denim category.
According to Old Navy’s “The Current State of Denim” report, denim’s popularity grows 22 percent each month and momentum is accelerating going into fall.
The Gap Inc.-owned brand partnered with Data, But Make It Fashion, the Substack and TikTok account that explores the fashion industry and cultural trends through the lens of data and analytics, for the industry deep dive on what’s hot in denim. Data, But Make it Fashion analyzed nearly 8,000 articles and online posts mentioning denim over the past year, including their monthly quantity, sentiment, and Google search traffic, to calculate average popularity over time.
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The report highlights the duality of denim, noting its strong presence both on the runway and in everyday life. According to the report, consumers gravitate toward denim year-round when they want style without compromising their budget, personal aesthetic, or existing wardrobe.
Jeans also allow consumers to experiment with silhouettes. Though the denim category historically sees one trend dominate sales (i.e. skinny jeans in the 2010s), that’s not the case in 2025. Data shows that Old Navy customers have 2-3 denim styles in their rotation, and 41 percent of consumers said they are willing to try new denim styles.
Those new styles can be anything fit. From July to August, the report found that online and social mentions of “slouchy” jeans increase 22 percent, positioning the roomy fit as a must-have for fall.
Mentions of slim increased 43 percent, barrel increased 4 percent and skinny increased 6 percent during the same period.
Despite the hate skinny jeans received during the pandemic, the fit is rebounding. Over the past 12 months, popularity of skinny denim has risen on average 3 percent monthly, according to the report. At Old Navy, slim and skinny denim are consistently the most popular styles, with 79 percent of consumers stating they plan to buy and continue purchasing skinny jeans.
