Talking a Blue Streak
Another blast from the past is ripping through the fashion scene--stretch denim and stretch fabrics that mimic the look of denim.
The coming seasons, especially next spring and summer, will be rife with them.
Indigo denim is showing up at all price levels, from the high-end European collections of Gianni Versace and Karl Lagerfeld to the California sportswear of Roberto Robledo and Andrea Vincent.
Many people will remember with revulsion the stretch denim that first appeared in the ‘60s. It felt like blue-jean cloth that had been welded to a girdle. It was heavy and hot, but it did stretch.
Fabric makers have since fine-tuned the fibers and weaving techniques. Today’s stretch denim looks and feels like the traditional fabric.
The prevalence of denim in the French couture shows influenced Robledo to use it in his resort collection, he says. “I always look at the couture, and there was a lot of talk about indigo denim. Karl Lagerfeld showed it in the Chanel collection for short skirts.”
Robledo’s take consists of fitted scuba jackets, capri pants, long dresses, short shorts and trench coats priced from $60 to $300. He uses brass zipper teeth as a border on hems and other edges. The zippers resemble the gold top-stitching on traditional jeans, yet give his garments a sophisticated finish.
Even though Robledo’s resort line will not be in stores until December, his efforts may have been premature. The return to stretch indigo denim took buyers by surprise, he says, and they have been slow to place orders.
But fashion stylists, who search the wholesale showrooms for fast-forward clothes to use in music videos, love the look.
Los Angeles designer Andrea Vincent has experienced the same too-soon-to-be-cool phenomenon. She devised a fall collection in a Lycra jersey fabric dyed a mottled blue to resemble indigo denim.
Her jeans, overalls, short skirts, hooded tunics and jumpsuits will be at Saks Fifth Avenue and selected Nordstrom stores in mid-September. But the line is not selling as fast as some of her gold Lurex looks.
“The buyers are expecting stretch denim to be big for spring,” she explains.
She believes that one of the strongest pieces is the leggings that look like blue jeans, complete with back pockets.
“They are a new way for people to wear a denim look,” she says.
Another Los Angeles-based company, Vintage Blue, put out a blue jean/legging more than a year ago, with great success.
“It combines the comfort of a legging with the look of a jean, and we have sold over 2 million pairs since last August,” says John Siegel, company president.
The $35 leggings are available at The Limited, May Co., The Broadway and Robinson’s.
Denim look-alikes similar to Vintage Blue’s and Vincent’s are even showing up in swimwear. Gottex has swimsuits and cover-ups in Lycra dyed to look like acid-washed denim, some of them with top-stitching.
The denim-like swimwear will be available in January.
