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Dazzle in denim

Take the Parisian fashion house Lanvin, purveyor of beautiful silk evening dresses designed with the light touch of Alber Elbaz, and its collaboration with Swedish rock and roll denim brand, Acne, which arrives in stores on December 17. The name is not promising but such is the cult following for this label that meanings are quickly forgotten. The range, marrying the hichurch of fashion with the street, is inspired.pink prom dresses

Find belted trench coats, blouselike shirts, a sleeveless dress with a full skirt and tiny hook and eyes at the back  and, of course, jeans with a grosgrain ribbon waistband and big sweetiesized crystal buttons. Elbaz’s deft way with detail and silhouette takes the pureblue cloth out of the mundane and into the category of special. Acne’s creative director, Jonny Johansson, says: “When we first met, Alber was talking about denim with such love, he said it was like a perfume you never throw away, one you keep and treasure.”prom dresses uk

For buyers it is a dream. “It’s a collaboration between two incredible design houses, the product is wearable, timeless and will go with everything in your wardrobe. The fabrics are soft and the prices recessionfriendly,” says Erin Mullaney at Browns. Hmm Boyfriend jeans start at 350 and for 660 you can purchase a slouchy trench with crystal buttons.

Over the past five years, our denim pricepoint ceiling has been raised higher and higher in a market that is alive with niche brands each promising a certain look  whether grungy, geeky or glamorous  and a certain fit. The dizzying array of styles, washes and finishes makes the time when the choice was Levi’s or Lee seem prehistoric. Find slimlegged Lollobrigida style at Australian brand 18th Amendment, lovingly worn specialist denims at Earnest Sewn, baggy boyfriend styles at Rogan, skinny minilegs at Twenty8Twelve  designed by Sienna and her sister, Savannah Miller, savvy looking flares at J Brand and beaten up rock star strides at Goldsign  all popping over the 100 a pair mark.

Finding the perfect pair of jeans has become something of the holy grail of fashion and everchanging styles and trends  from skinny to flare, low waist to high waist, pristine to shredded, keep enticing us back for more, for better, for different.

Factor in the more casual dress code of the office, and jeans have also found a bigger place in our wardrobe. Current favourite in theoffice is the ripped and distressed Current/Elliott “Super Loved” jeans (160, Harvey Nichols; 020 7235 5000) from the US, which sit low on the waist and are remarkably soft, the cloth having been endlessly washed. I tried a stripy pair on in Barneys in New York and two other shoppers said “Wow! Where did you find those?” and followed suit. Leaving $210 (140) poorer, I realised I had gone into Barneys to find some winter boots. That’s denim: it mugs your best intentions.

Prompted by the strictures of recession, denim also made a big impact on the Spring/Summer 2009 catwalks. Take Loewe, the luxury Spanish label owned by LVMH and now designed by Brit Stuart Vevers from the studio in Madrid. The collection includes highly tailored denim in fitted shirts and highwaisted flares trimmed with gold piping, and cinched shift dresses with a goldbuttoned centre panel and gold bolted denim belts. “We chose a Japanese steelblue cotton denim for its distinctive colour. It is thin but dense and compact so great for tailoring,” says Vevers. “What’s nice is that the fabric is familiar and comfortable but there is a new perspective on how it is detailed  something easy becomes luxe and tailored, trimmed in gold.” Equally luxe are the roomy silkdenim denims at Louis Vuitton and the fifties rockabilly turnup styles at Hermes.

Reliable, comfortable, familiar, denim offers not just security in rocky times but fun, too. Henry Holland customised Levis 501s with dots andflowers in a limitededition line which sold out at Selfridges after his February catwalk show.

At Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci cut faded washed denim into caban tops and jeans that segue into leather chaps. “It is very difficult to work leather and denim together and to get the right faded wash,” says Tisci. “But the result I think is great, super sexy, too.”

Jeans are never as simple as they seem. In the hands of talented designers, they become highly crafted. Take Meadham Kirchhoff’s lacerated, bleached, distressed and shredded jeans with copper rivets and crisscross lacing. They are a sight to behold  a beautiful vision of Armageddon.

The Londonbased duo Edward and Benjamin actually designed and distressed each piece by hand in an act that made their fingers raw. For these painstakingly made articulated jeans, the price tag swings in at 1,390. Not to be outclassed, the Balmain collection by Christophe Decarnin (currently the hot designer collection loved for its rock groupie, Haight Ashbury style) includes an embroidered, zipped pair for a staggering 2,100.

Jeans  the great democratic item of clothing for men, women and children and all ages? Like in everything else there are definitely layers of democracy.