Denim and jeans are far from exiting the UK fashion scene, with a grip of new prospect to give the market added momentum.
Bootcut, slim-fit, easy-fit, stretch, dark denim, dirty denim, whiskers, mud-washed, sand-blasted, over-dyes and resin baking are just some of the style and ultimate options helping to bring a new life into the traditional five-pocket jeans. In effect reinventions via fits, washes, colours, finishes and construction add to a 40% rise in UK jeans sales, as mentioned in Mintel's 2005 report on the jeans market.
Despite a decrease in the women's jeans market at the end of 2005, the sales are starting to take off over again, with 10% growth in the latest 24 weeks.
One of the most severely challenging positions at the moment seems to be the youth market, where reasonably priced lines offer the modern shopper a designer fashion hit at a price point that won't break the bank.
English: A Levi Strauss advertising sign painted o...
Levi Strauss, blue jeans
Levi's 506 jeansThe global market assessment of the denim and jeanswear industries, with forecasts to 2010, makes the point that there is after all, only so much you can do with a pair of trousers with a back-yoke manufacture in terms of make-up.
It has also been noted that as far as fabrication and supply into the fashion jeanswear sector is concerned, Hong Kong and mainland China companies have a strong aggressive edge, mainly in styles that involve anything complex like fashion embroidery or decorative stitching and dying.
A glance at the UK high street just now shows how designers and makers are trying to improve upon the classic jeans style.
Denim washes are getting shady or more multi-colored with shades of pink and pastels deemed hot for summer 2004; sportswear figure like drawstring waists are cropping up on denim varieties; legs range from wide 70s styles to...