{"id":24962,"date":"2014-09-06T09:02:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T01:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=24962"},"modified":"2014-09-05T23:06:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T15:06:15","slug":"shoppers-love-affair-with-yoga-pants-trumps-jeans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/09\/06\/shoppers-love-affair-with-yoga-pants-trumps-jeans\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoppers\u2019 love affair with yoga pants trumps jeans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lululemon<\/a>
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is a self-described yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, which produces a clothing line and runs international clothing stores from its company base in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Their mission is to \u201ccreate components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives.\u201d Photo by WestportWiki<\/a> \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK\u2014Americans\u2019 obsession with jeans is beginning to wear thin.<\/p>\n

Jeans long have been a go-to staple in closets across the country. After all, not many pieces of clothing are so comfortable they can be worn daily, yet versatile enough to be dressed up or down.<\/p>\n

But sales of the iconic blues fell 6 per cent during the past year after decades of almost steady growth. Why? People more often are sporting yoga pants and leggings instead of traditional denim.<\/p>\n

The shift is partly due to a lack of new designs since brightly colored skinny jeans were a hit a couple years back. It\u2019s also a reflection of changing views about what\u2019s appropriate attire for work, school and other places that used to call for more formal attire.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoga pants have replaced jeans in my wardrobe,\u201d said Anita Ramaswamy, a Scottsdale, Arizona high-school senior who is buying more leggings and yoga pants than jeans. \u201cYou can make it as sexy as skinny jeans, and it\u2019s more comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, the jeans business isn\u2019t dead: Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy, estimates denim accounts for 20 per cent of annual sales at the nation\u2019s department stores.<\/p>\n

But sales of jeans in the U.S. fell 6 per cent to $16 billion during the year that ended in June, according to market research firm NPD Group, while sales of yoga pants and other \u201cactive wear\u201d climbed 7 per cent to $33.6 billion.<\/p>\n

And Levi Strauss, which invented the first pair of blue jeans 141 years ago, is among jean makers that acknowledge their business has been hurt by what the fashion industry dubs the \u201cathleisure\u201d trend. That\u2019s led them to create new versions of classic denim that are more \u201cstretchy\u201d and mimic the comfort of sweatpants.<\/p>\n

Birth of the blues<\/h6>\n

It\u2019s one of the few times jeans haven\u2019t been at the forefront of what\u2019s \u201ctrending.\u201d Businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis invented jeans in 1873 after getting a patent to create cotton denim workpants with copper rivets in certain areas like the pocket corner to make them stronger. By the 1920s, Levi\u2019s original 501 jeans had become top-selling men\u2019s workpants, according to Levi\u2019s corporate website.<\/p>\n

Over the next couple of decades, the pants went mainstream. In 1934, Levi\u2019s took advantage of the rise in Western movies and launched its first jeans aimed at affluent women who wanted to wear them on dude ranches. Then teens boosted popularity of the pants, first among the greasy-hair-and-leather-jacket set in the 1950s and then, the hippies in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

But teens\u2019 biggest contribution to jeans\u2019 rise was the name itself: Until the 1950s, the pants were called overalls or waist overalls, but in the following decade, teens started referring to them as jeans. During that time, jeans took on a bad-boy image\u2014popularized by actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando in such roles\u2014which led many schools to ban kids from wearing them to class.<\/p>\n

In 1960, Levi\u2019s began using the \u2018jeans\u2019 name in ads and packaging. And over the next few decades, jeans became even more of a way for people to express themselves. In the 1960s to early 1970s, hip-huggers and bell bottoms became an anti-establishment statement. Then in the 1970s and early 1980s, jeans became a status symbol when designer brands like Jordache rolled out more chic versions. More recently, names like 7 For All Mankind made $200 jeans, helping to push sales up by 10 per cent to $10 billion in 2000, NPD said.<\/p>\n

Ironing it out<\/h6>\n

Jeans have faced other rough patches. One came in the mid-1970s, when denim sales fell 3 to 4 per cent, while corduroy pants surged in popularity, with sales rising 10 to 12 per cent, according to NPD estimates.<\/p>\n

NPD declined to offer more historical sales data because of changes it made in its methodology recently, but the group\u2019s chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen says jean sales fell about 3 per cent again with the resurgence of khakis 12 years ago. That was the last decline until now.<\/p>\n

Fashion watchers say the latest decline could be the longest. The \u201cathleisure\u201d trend is the biggest threat jeans have faced because it reflects a fundamental lifestyle change, said Amanda Hallay, assistant clinical professor of fashion merchandising at LIM College in Manhattan. \u201cEveryone wants to look like they\u2019re running to the gym, even if they\u2019re not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As a result of jeans\u2019 waning popularity, retailers and designers are focusing more on activewear and less on denim. For instance, J.C. Penney recently has doubled its selections in casual athletic styles for the back-to-school season and scaled back growth of its denim business.<\/p>\n

And designers are pushing new versions of jeans. Both Levi\u2019s and VF Corp., the maker of Wrangler and Lee jeans, are rolling out jeans that they say are stretchier. And many brands are making so-called jogger pants, a loose-fitting sweatpant style that has elastic cuffs at the bottom of the leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf casualization is what everyone is looking for, we can push the innovation,\u201d said James Curleigh, president of the Levi\u2019s brand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early to tell whether the new styles will help jeans regain popularity. Jennifer Romanello, for one, said she\u2019s not interested in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I want yoga pants, I will buy yoga pants,\u201d said the publishing executive from Rockville Centre, New York. \u201cI just don\u2019t see jeans crossing the line to be yoga pants.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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