When you think about summer fabrics, denim probably isn’t one that springs to mind. For men like myself who have lived through the #menswear revival of stiff, heavy raw selvedge, immediately followed by the era of clingy, clammy, skin-tight skinnies, the suggestion of wearing jeans on thermometer-busting summer day is frankly mind-boggling. And, if you’re talking about those particular types of jeans, you’d be absolutely right. That’s why the jeans you’re seeing out and about on the current crop of style superheroes this summer are altogether breezier. Just take a look at Mr Harry Styles on his current tour sporting slouchy, 1970s wide-leg jeans. Or Mr Joe Jonas hitting the sun-baked LA streets in billowy, 1990s, distressed grey denims.
But the idea of wearing jeans in the summer is only half the story. What it’s easy to forget is that denim is way more than just a pair of jeans. It’s a fabric that’s hard-wearing, but also supremely versatile. After all, there’s a reason we’re all still wearing it over 400 years after its invention.
This season’s denim is also the canvas for a vast variety of shades, patterns and detailing, which means that, right now, it’s a material that’s making a play for far more of men’s wardrobes than just the trouser department. Take a look at the way designers are deploying denim in cool (and we do mean cool) new ways for you to try throughout the hottest months of the year.
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