For typographer Pooja Saxena, pants don’t revert to type. A tall woman, Saxena says culottes were her gateway drug to try on fun pants. She tried a barreland wide-leg pants next. For her, it’s not just about the ease of movement that a wider leg provides, it’s also the playfulness a new shape brings: a different proportion or a new canvas to play around with styling elements like funky socks as most of the new pants are cropped. She says,
“Barrel pants allow me to lean into a more menswear/butch way of dressing. In terms of silhouette, they allow me to recreate The Mask look. I never really thought of that as someone I wanted to dress like, but I love it!”
The Mask, played by Jim Carrey, is an unlikely sartorial hero but just as the mask unleashed a fun and eccentric side to the staid Stanley Ipkiss in the movie, the new pants are here to let us have some fun. Since 2020, fashion watchers have been mulling over what’s going on with pants. Some call it pants chaos, a few refer to it as pants anarchy and yet others call it a pants reimagining. The ‘pandemification’ of pants has come full circle in 2025, when skinny jeans are still languishing in our closets. Striding ahead are the wide legs, the balloon pants, the baggy pants and the barrel pants.
WIDE ANGLE
You know a trend has hit critical mass when the street market confirms it. The wide legs have percolated down to the bylanes of neighbourhood markets. Pants have got puffier, with higher rises or, like with The Label Jenn, a casualwear label founded by Jinita Sheth, they are deconstructed with pleats, belts at the shins, or pooled hemlines. Sheth, who started out her label by collecting vintage and novelty belts, ventured into apparel and especially pants after she found a huge gap in the experimental silhouettes. She says, “Age-wise, there’s a cultural shift towards comfortable fits—and pants are no different. The younger audience is seeking more street style and wants to invest in clothes that are almost art and make them unique.”
Brands—high-fashion and street—are getting more creative with bottoms. Levi’s, Zara and H&M have all gone wider in the leg, and so have indie brands like The Label Jenn, Mati, Our Own Pace, Doodlage and Grass by Geetika Goyal, among others.
Shivani Barua, cofounder of the streetwear label Our Own Pace, says barrel jeans and balloon pants are their current bestsellers. She pins their popularity on two factors—the post-pandemic push for comfort dressing and the shift from skinny jeans as people crave alternatives that feel modern, relaxed and wearable without looking shapeless. “One thing I’ve seen with our customers is how these shapes adapt beautifully across different body types—whether someone is petite, curvy, or tall, the structure enhances rather than hides.”
High-fashion runways—from Alaïa and Loewe to Saint Laurent— have played a huge role in reviving these silhouettes. A September 2025 report in The Business of Fashion, a digital resource on the industry, mentions how wider pants are becoming part of men’s wardrobes. Citing the retail data platform Edited, it says the number of wider pant styles for men available at mass retailers in US jumped 17% in August 2025 over the previous year, while skinny pants fell 47%. In fact, in 2024, many fashion editorials called the barrel pants—that have a fitted waist, a bold curve through the hips and thighs, and a tapered ankle, creating an effortless but sculpted silhouette—one of the most divisive trends. While fans love them for their comfort, critics call them unflattering.
Mumbai-based designer Anushe Pirani, founder of eponymous slow-fashion brand, says comfort is the driving force behind it. Pants today, she notes, feel elevated in style and are intentional— not an afterthought. “People want comfort but with character and seek clothes that move with them,” she says. “There’s more experimentation in bottoms probably because they were neglected for such a long time.”
COMFORT ZONE
Wearers swear by the comfort of the new pants. Ahmedabadbased sari stylist Ashwini Narayan says her favourite pants are deconstructed, wide-leg, balloon and harem. She especially likes the samurai pants as they let her legs breathe. Chennai-based sewist Sudha Sekhar has stitched many of her current barrel pants. Unlike naysayers, she finds the fit very forgiving. The trick? “The curve of the pants has to be well constructed to become flattering. Proportions are key.”
Sustainable wear designer Geetika Goyal, who has been in the business since 1998 catering to UK and US, launched Grass by Geetika Goyal for the Indian market. She’s always had an affinity for pants. In 1998, she started out with an exhibition in London called “Get Your Pants On”—a collection of old pants from all over the world. “At Grass, I’ve had the salwar pants, the zouave pants [which resemble the uniform of the zouave units of the French army] and the Afghan pants from the very beginning,” she says. They have now added pleated pants and cocoon pants, which are a big hit.
Goyal says traditional pants, regardless of their region of origin, are relevant because of their loose fits. More importantly, they are sustainable as their cut ensures no wastage of cloth. Goyal likes an unusual cut but stays away from exaggerated silhouettes as they impact wearability.
BOTTOMS UP
Fatima K Punjaabi, founder of Mati, says she works with cuts that feel organic to her brand. She usually keeps the fits relaxed but her baggy pants have found a new fan base among men. While women are wary of new silhouettes that seem to add volume to their frame, says Punjaabi, men are discovering comfort with baggy pants. The change came after actors like Rajkummar Rao and Akshay Kumar were spotted wearing “interesting” pants.
“There’s definitely a gap in the market for different silhouettes for men. And men are now seeking change and want to experiment with style,” she says.
Bottoms in general—pants, salwars or skirts—are having a moment. People want to push the limits of personal style with them. Barua says, “The popularity of sculptural, exaggerated pants reflects where we are right now, where people want comfort without compromising on individuality. These silhouettes carry a sense of intention and structure, which feels aligned with how people want to present themselves today: effortless yet thoughtful.”
Even Sheth, who works extensively with denim, says that this is not a one-off. Going forward, she says pants will only become more experimental and exaggerated. “People want to wear unique pieces. So expect this category to get even more detailed,” she says. For Goyal, these pants capture the current mood and trend of oversized.
Barua says the success for these styles is more than hype; it comes from demand for pieces you can live in, not just show off: “In many ways, these styles speak to a collective desire to redefine what ‘put together’ means.” It’s bottoms-up time!
“Barrel pants allow me to lean into a more menswear/butch way of dressing. In terms of silhouette, they allow me to recreate The Mask look. I never really thought of that as someone I wanted to dress like, but I love it!”
The Mask, played by Jim Carrey, is an unlikely sartorial hero but just as the mask unleashed a fun and eccentric side to the staid Stanley Ipkiss in the movie, the new pants are here to let us have some fun. Since 2020, fashion watchers have been mulling over what’s going on with pants. Some call it pants chaos, a few refer to it as pants anarchy and yet others call it a pants reimagining. The ‘pandemification’ of pants has come full circle in 2025, when skinny jeans are still languishing in our closets. Striding ahead are the wide legs, the balloon pants, the baggy pants and the barrel pants.
WIDE ANGLE
You know a trend has hit critical mass when the street market confirms it. The wide legs have percolated down to the bylanes of neighbourhood markets. Pants have got puffier, with higher rises or, like with The Label Jenn, a casualwear label founded by Jinita Sheth, they are deconstructed with pleats, belts at the shins, or pooled hemlines. Sheth, who started out her label by collecting vintage and novelty belts, ventured into apparel and especially pants after she found a huge gap in the experimental silhouettes. She says, “Age-wise, there’s a cultural shift towards comfortable fits—and pants are no different. The younger audience is seeking more street style and wants to invest in clothes that are almost art and make them unique.”
Brands—high-fashion and street—are getting more creative with bottoms. Levi’s, Zara and H&M have all gone wider in the leg, and so have indie brands like The Label Jenn, Mati, Our Own Pace, Doodlage and Grass by Geetika Goyal, among others.
Shivani Barua, cofounder of the streetwear label Our Own Pace, says barrel jeans and balloon pants are their current bestsellers. She pins their popularity on two factors—the post-pandemic push for comfort dressing and the shift from skinny jeans as people crave alternatives that feel modern, relaxed and wearable without looking shapeless. “One thing I’ve seen with our customers is how these shapes adapt beautifully across different body types—whether someone is petite, curvy, or tall, the structure enhances rather than hides.”
High-fashion runways—from Alaïa and Loewe to Saint Laurent— have played a huge role in reviving these silhouettes. A September 2025 report in The Business of Fashion, a digital resource on the industry, mentions how wider pants are becoming part of men’s wardrobes. Citing the retail data platform Edited, it says the number of wider pant styles for men available at mass retailers in US jumped 17% in August 2025 over the previous year, while skinny pants fell 47%. In fact, in 2024, many fashion editorials called the barrel pants—that have a fitted waist, a bold curve through the hips and thighs, and a tapered ankle, creating an effortless but sculpted silhouette—one of the most divisive trends. While fans love them for their comfort, critics call them unflattering.
Mumbai-based designer Anushe Pirani, founder of eponymous slow-fashion brand, says comfort is the driving force behind it. Pants today, she notes, feel elevated in style and are intentional— not an afterthought. “People want comfort but with character and seek clothes that move with them,” she says. “There’s more experimentation in bottoms probably because they were neglected for such a long time.”
COMFORT ZONE
Wearers swear by the comfort of the new pants. Ahmedabadbased sari stylist Ashwini Narayan says her favourite pants are deconstructed, wide-leg, balloon and harem. She especially likes the samurai pants as they let her legs breathe. Chennai-based sewist Sudha Sekhar has stitched many of her current barrel pants. Unlike naysayers, she finds the fit very forgiving. The trick? “The curve of the pants has to be well constructed to become flattering. Proportions are key.”
Sustainable wear designer Geetika Goyal, who has been in the business since 1998 catering to UK and US, launched Grass by Geetika Goyal for the Indian market. She’s always had an affinity for pants. In 1998, she started out with an exhibition in London called “Get Your Pants On”—a collection of old pants from all over the world. “At Grass, I’ve had the salwar pants, the zouave pants [which resemble the uniform of the zouave units of the French army] and the Afghan pants from the very beginning,” she says. They have now added pleated pants and cocoon pants, which are a big hit.
Goyal says traditional pants, regardless of their region of origin, are relevant because of their loose fits. More importantly, they are sustainable as their cut ensures no wastage of cloth. Goyal likes an unusual cut but stays away from exaggerated silhouettes as they impact wearability.
BOTTOMS UP
Fatima K Punjaabi, founder of Mati, says she works with cuts that feel organic to her brand. She usually keeps the fits relaxed but her baggy pants have found a new fan base among men. While women are wary of new silhouettes that seem to add volume to their frame, says Punjaabi, men are discovering comfort with baggy pants. The change came after actors like Rajkummar Rao and Akshay Kumar were spotted wearing “interesting” pants.
“There’s definitely a gap in the market for different silhouettes for men. And men are now seeking change and want to experiment with style,” she says.
Bottoms in general—pants, salwars or skirts—are having a moment. People want to push the limits of personal style with them. Barua says, “The popularity of sculptural, exaggerated pants reflects where we are right now, where people want comfort without compromising on individuality. These silhouettes carry a sense of intention and structure, which feels aligned with how people want to present themselves today: effortless yet thoughtful.”
Even Sheth, who works extensively with denim, says that this is not a one-off. Going forward, she says pants will only become more experimental and exaggerated. “People want to wear unique pieces. So expect this category to get even more detailed,” she says. For Goyal, these pants capture the current mood and trend of oversized.
Barua says the success for these styles is more than hype; it comes from demand for pieces you can live in, not just show off: “In many ways, these styles speak to a collective desire to redefine what ‘put together’ means.” It’s bottoms-up time!
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