The Lowdown on Low Rise
Low rise has been threatening a comeback for years. Now, there’s little question it’s arrived, only this time, the rules have changed. Today’s low rise jean spans wide legs, relaxed straights and bootcuts, in fits ranging from baggier to slim, sitting anywhere from just below the waist to low on the hips.
The rise may be familiar, but the proportions around it have changed.
Janice Marks, Senior Vice President of Design at Silver Jeans Co., first noticed the low rise trend beginning to resurface about five years ago. As high rises became ubiquitous, younger dressers started moving in the opposite direction. “Every generation wants to distinguish itself from the one before it,” she says. “They don’t want to wear what their parents are wearing now, but they are interested in what they wore back then.”
Before rises went lower, denim was already getting looser. Janice points to the arrival of wide legs and baggies as the moment low rise really took off. “It came down to creating the right proportion and a modern shape,” she says. A waistband could drop without everything else becoming tighter, shorter, or more extreme.
Getting that range right comes down to the fit. Janice explains that on a low rise, pitch, essentially how the front and back rise are balanced against each other, is critical. Without enough of it, the back pulls down. Silver adjusts the pitch by fit, while contoured waistbands help prevent gapping where the jean hits the body.
That distinction runs through Silver’s low rises. Tuesday sits lowest, with a close fit through the hip and seat and options that range from a slim bootcut to a new baggier wide leg. Loose & Low sits slightly higher, but still low slung at 9.5 inches, with a contoured waistband and a wider straight leg. Sage takes an even looser approach, cut straighter and roomier so it can hang lower from the hips without feeling extreme. “There isn’t just one way to wear low rise anymore,” Janice says. Now, there’s more room to play with proportion, leg shape and where the waist sits.
Despite the momentum of low rise denim, Janice doesn’t see another monoculture coming. She’s noticed the influence is already nudging rises lower across the board, but that doesn’t mean everyone suddenly abandons what they wear now. “I wouldn’t say that everybody is suddenly going to be wearing a uniform. I think those days are over.”