We’ve had ultra-baggy jeans, curvy balloon jeans, ready-stained “dirty” jeans and, perhaps the most polarising strides of recent years: the outwardly arched horseshoe jean.
Here comes the divisive denim trend for autumn 2025: would you buy a pair of John Lewis’s new wonky jeans? They’re £79, high-waisted, have a softly flared bootcut silhouette and come in three shades: two blue, one grey. You might think that the retailer’s And/Or “button-cross jeans” appear unremarkable at first glance, until you take a closer look at the waist. There is something a bit off about it.
The “button-cross jeans” have an asymmetric waistline
JOHN LEWIS
The jeans, which will be in stores in August, don’t fasten with a standard zip and button in the middle. Instead, two metal rivets are positioned to the left and lower right of the navel. They do up on a crooked diagonal line. Yes, they are lopsided.
Lisa Ferrie, who oversees John Lewis’s womenswear collections, is calling the design a “crossover waist”. The effect is for an off-kilter look designed to draw the eye. It might raise a few eyebrows too. Not Ferrie’s. She thinks these jeans will be “on everyone’s wardrobe wish list” in a few months. “We love to introduce exciting new shapes,” she said, describing the latest skewwhiff style as “incredibly flattering. It offers a modern take on the high-waist trend that we know and love”.
She compared the jeans to the barrel-leg styles that were the preserve of fashion editors at first, but are now ubiquitous. “That was a new silhouette for our customers, but its effortless cool factor quickly made it a seasonal staple. The crossover waist has that same unexpected quality that elevates even the simplest of outfits.”
Marlies Pia Pfeifhofer, the Austrian model, wears Vana jeans from Agolde
MORITZ SCHOLZ/GETTY IMAGES
John Lewis’s are not the only wonky jeans around. Agolde, the luxury denim label that pioneered exaggerated horseshoe jeans, is hailing its criss-cross waist model as autumn 2025’s must-have. Its new “Vana” jean is £350, has a roomy fit and pleated asymmetrical waist, and is proving a retail hit.
Karen Phelps, the brand’s creative director, said: “Folded and twisted denim is a big trend — it’s playful and sophisticated at the same time.” More shades and a petite fit are in the pipeline to meet demand.
Roll your eyes now, but this curious set of slacks might make it into your own wardrobe eventually. Zara’s pair is £35.99; at AllSaints, a £149 style comes in white. Clementina Jackson, Marie Claire’s fashion editor, is happy to bet they will be “the must-have jeans of 2025” — but don’t worry if it takes you until 2026 to get your head around them.
