Forget everything you’ve heard about leggings not being a viable pants option, because they are. And fashion says so.
For years the debate on whether it’s socially appropriate to wear leggings as pants in public has been a sartorial hot potato.
For those against the clingy trend, the fact that leggings are comfortable, casual, and stretchy are the very reasons why they shouldn’t be worn as pants in public. Although for those pro-panters, these are the same reasons as to why they should be worn in public.
Still, if the amount of leggings on the runways at fashion weeks this season tells us anything, it's that leggings are pants now more than ever.
At Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent show in Paris, leggings were styled beneath oversized leather jackets and boxy coats, while it was a similar story at Marine Serre’s railway shed-turned-bazaar show, which saw leggings paired with kitten heels and skin-tight tops.
Blumarine, Miu Miu, and Ferragamo also chimed in on the clingy phenomenon by reimagining the inherently athleisure garment into something much more opulent, paired with dinner jackets and chunky knitwear.
Lacoste, which was showing its first collection under new creative director, Pelagia Kolotourus, on March 5, also delivered a variety of legging looks amidst an unusually dressy collection.
Interestingly though, and unlike other shows, Lacoste’s leggings-only looks were also styled on men. Groundbreaking? No, leggings have been in sportswear for years, but instead Lacoste merrly proposing them as genderless in a more everyday setting.
Today's legging as pants conversation recently reared its head in 2022 when Kim Kardashian wore "pantaleggings" in a then-new Balenciaga campaign. This is where the question of whether leggings as pants is socially acceptable was brought back into question.
This all began in the the mid-2010s and the athleisure, when leggings first became the go-to garment to pair with oversized hoodies, fleece jackets, and sweaters.
They were the cozy cherry on top of a comfortable and practical everyday look for virtually every under-20s woman across the world. Wearing leggings as pants became the universal sign that you’d been to the gym, even if you hadn’t.
In 2024, leggings as pants is clearly getting the high-end treatment and it feels surprisingly inclusive. But for Fall/Winter, now more than ever, leggings can be pants in anybody's outfit.
