Much has been made of the so-called skinny jeans revival. Once a symbol of youthful rebellion in the 1960s, and later of Brit rock hedonism in the ’00s, the slim-fit jean was an unexpected–though not unwelcome–presence on the fall 2024 catwalks: shown by international brands like Dsquared2, Miu Miu, Prada and Louis Vuitton, but also London’s emergent powerhouses, such as Aaron Esh and Laura Andraschko.
Less, however, has been said about its wipe-clean relative: the leather skinny. I think this is because these trousers have never quite fallen out of mainstream rotation–see: Amanda Holden and Khloé Kardashian–meaning they might require a little more transgression in order to pass as an actual fashion item in 2024. Ie, fewer marinière tops and chunky McQueen sneakers, more rakish, head-to-toe tailoring, à la Hedi Slimane, Versace and Roberto Cavalli circa 2002.
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I’m not sure if Anne Hathaway will quite reach the alt-girl status of Courtney Love and Kim Gordon–some of Hedi Slimane’s best known muses–but she certainly gestured towards that rock and roll look when she arrived at a New York screening for her new film The Idea of You, dressed in a three-piece leather suit. Just as Hathaway is set on challenging the expectations of a 41-year-old Oscar-winning actress–“I want to have fun, dammit!,” she told reporters back in March–so too is she set on subverting the traditional look of a rom-com protagonist, in all of her frazzled Englishwoman layers.