THE JOURNAL
From left: Blumarine SS23, John Elliott SS23, Etudes SS23, Diesel SS23, Rick Owens SS23. All photographs by IMAXTREE.COM
First came the baggy jeans. Then the return of the low rise. What could possibly come next? Well, wouldn’t you know, it’s sand-washed (or dirty-washed) denim – a perfect complement to the Y2K fantasy we’ve been building for the past few years. And while selvedge-denim aficionados may be looking away in disgust, the distressed devotees are probably welcoming the return of the warm-hued, worn-in, dirty-denim finish.
A current pioneer of this trend is Mr Glenn Martens, who has been perfecting his denim craft at Diesel as creative director for the past two years, experimenting with cuts, washes and utilising denim in different ways (such as crop tops, coats, boots). This is hardly surprising – his own label, Y/Project, has always had an experimental approach to fashion with subversive and distressed designs.
Another leading Italian house in this trend is cult 2000s brand Blumarine, which, like Diesel, was doing this wash back in the early 2000s. Smaller up-and-coming independent brands, such as German label No Faith, are upcycling deadstock materials, so the finish is even more distressed with a lived-in effect.
“We have shifted from black being the most common neutral to brown being the neutral colour”
The dirty wash adds to the apocalyptic Mad Max-esque vision of distressed clothing that Maison Margiela, Rick Owens, Y/Project and Mr Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga have always incorporated in their designs. But now it’s become more prevalent in other SS23 collections as well. See Etudés, which completely gave up on blue jeans and just showcased brown and green-hued denim, as well as John Elliott, who sent a lot of warm-toned washes down its runway. The colour palette in the Acne Studios’ collection seemed to be inspired by nature, featuring a lot of greens, pinks and browns, which were then embedded in denim washes.
And the look can be spotted in the wild. Last week, A$AP Rocky was seen wearing a full Rick Owens sand-washed denim look while accompanying Rihanna (also in Rick Owens) for her much-anticipated music comeback at the premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Back in August, a TikTok creator known as @st_evens shared her “neutral shift cycle” theory, proposing that, as a collective, we have shifted from black being the most common neutral colour to brown being the neutral colour, thus moving from a cool-toned palette of greys and blues to warm undertones of cream, orange and olive.
In the 2010s, undertones were centred around black, whereas now, in the 2020s, we have moved towards shades of brown that were last popular in the 2000s as well as the 1970s and early 1980s. This includes denim, where yellow and brown hues in the washes play with that warm palette.
“Sand-washed jeans are bolder than ever as brands base their washes on the Y2K style, but with a more exaggerated approach”
If we are following the 20-year trend cycle hypothesis, which argues that styles come back in fashion every couple of decades, then the sandy wash is right on time. Rising from the era of denim experimentation that were the 2000s, warm-toned jeans were last seen on the likes of Destiny’s Child, No Doubt, Mr Pharrell Williams and OutKast. Now, in 2022, sand-washed jeans are bolder than ever as brands base their washes on the Y2K style, but with a more exaggerated and distressed approach.
If you’re on board with this resurgence, you can rest assured that they’re easy to style, too. Why not wear yours with your go-to rollneck sweater or a plain tee? Or have some fun and go the full-distressed route with a patchwork jacket or a cut-out top by Rick Owens? You could even style your hair into bleached curls that resemble dried ramen noodles to really drive it home. Who are we to judge?