Welcome to our podcast, Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr. Think of it as your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the fashion-and-beauty world. Subscribe to Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
With spring just around the corner, it’s time to turn a new leaf and give your closet the ultimate spring refresh.
Denim is at the core of every wardrobe, and the seasonal change feels like the perfect time to make room for some new denim pieces. Whether that’s a Western-inspired denim shirt or an A-line denim dress, the ways you can incorporate denim into your looks are endless.
Levi’s new collection puts denim front and center with reimagined timeless classics that’ll look perfect on those sunny, 72-degree days.
For the latest episode of Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr, Who What Wear’s Editor in Chief Kat Collings sits down with Kristen Nichols, Who What Wear’s associate director of special projects, to chat about spring denim trends that can easily be incorporated into your closet, how they’d style pieces from Levi’s new collection, and more.
For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.
I want to hear what we’re looking at for spring this year, and I want to talk about denim, specifically. I know you ran a story in December predicting 2024’s big spring denim trends based on what we saw on the runway. I’m wondering if you can walk us through those predictions and which ones you’re seeing starting to come true. Sometimes there is a little bit of a disconnect between what happens on the runway and what actually makes sense for real life and what people are willing to adopt.
I think that there were some more daring trends, like hot pants and jeans with hard pleats that I have yet to see translate as much. Maybe we’ll see that moving into spring. The ones that have really resonated so far, firstly, were dark-wash jeans. I think we saw years and years of these really light or medium-wash jeans. Brands like Miu Miu, Gucci, and Helmut Lang are really leading this trend.
We saw a lot of examples of those on the runways and they really are taking denim into this area that feels polished and elevated, which really lines up with what we’re seeing in fashion overall. It’s interesting to see denim move into that place. It’s a trend I’m personally invested in and love wearing.
Even if you’re not willing to mix up the shape of the denim, maybe you can mix up the wash of the denim and I think that’s a fun way to test-drive a new trend. Another trend I have noticed a lot is the ’90s straight-leg silhouette, which has continued to dominate I would say both on and off the runways. On the runways, we saw brands like Tove and Bally making a major case for the jeans.
I think it’s just one of those timeless silhouettes that is just never going to go out of style, but brands certainly made an even bigger case to start integrating that back into your closet if you don’t have it in there already.
I feel like there’s an interesting conversation around skinny versus straight. I think we’re never (or, at least, hopefully, it’ll be quite a while, I shouldn’t say never, as everything comes back) [going back to] this skin-tight [style], where it’s almost closer to a legging than denim. That super-duper skinny I feel like is hopefully going to take a very long-term hiatus, but I feel like the straight leg can almost veer into skinny and it feels really fresh—especially [when] tucked into boots. It’s kind of like the denim silhouette that to me feels the most timeless.
I think one reason it’s so timeless is it’s truly the original silhouette of the original 501 Levi’s. Every new jean is based on this iconic shape and I think that is part of why it feels so classic.
I had the pleasure recently of being on set for Levi’s and shooting in a normcore look. I really love the outfit formula that we came up with because I feel like it’s very achievable but had a few elements that made it feel fashion-forward. What I did was a tank top with a high neck, which I think was key there. It just feels a little more fashiony for some reason to have that crew-neck. Then we layered a Nola button-down shirt from Levi’s over the tank top. On top of that [was] the belted trench coat. It’s kind of this button-down sandwich if you will. When you make it a tonal look (I did all-white for mine), it kind of just adds an interesting dimension having those layers in there with the monochrome look.
Paired with that, I did the baggy jeans. The Low Pro jeans were my pick of choice just to kind of add ease to the look because I feel like [with] normcore, there has to be a common denominator of relaxed energy. It’s a weekend, running errands kind of vibe.
Then the accessory of choice is a baseball cap, which I think always makes you look super cute. Great for bad hair days. Overall, I think that the five-piece outfit combination is normcore gold.
I loved that look. I feel like there are so many iterations of that same outfit combination that can look so different just based on one little tweak. One unbuttoned button or a layered tank top in a certain cut.
Levi’s
Belted Trench Coat
Levi’s
Low Pro Women’s Jeans
Levi’s
Nola Button Up Shirt
We’ve had the opportunity to partner with Levi’s and become quite familiar with their spring-summer offerings, which has been really fun. Can I give you a Levi’s piece for the new collection and have you tell me how you’d personally style it for spring? Let’s start with a little number I love called the Thora minidress. Super flattering. A-line silhouette. I’m curious how you would style this little minidress.
I’ve been leaning more into polished outfits, but again with this balance of casual and polished, so I love the idea of styling a denim dress with pointed slingbacks. Probably a lower kitten heel and then silver drop earrings to just make the denim dress feel more elevated while still living in a bit of a casual space.
Levi’s
Thora Denim Mini Dress
Reformation
Noreen Slingback Pump
Next, the Teodora Western shirt. The shirt is sort of a more feminine take on the Western staple, which is amazing. It kind of taps into that feminine trend we’re seeing. How would you style the Teodora?
I think my favorite way to style a Western top is by pairing it with matching jeans—especially matching jeans in the same wash just to have this kind of Canadian tuxedo look.
Then I think a leather belt really grounds this look, whether it’s a modern silhouette or a more Western style. I do love the idea of wearing this with a [pair of] boots. I recently saw a look that was similar to this where it was the matching Western top with the jeans, but there was a turtleneck styled underneath the button-down, and I thought that that was a really fresh way to wear it.
It was kind of unbuttoned halfway and there’s always these small touches that can really transform a look.
Levi’s
Teodora Western Shirt
Levi’s
Ribcage Wide Leg Women’s Jeans
Khaite
Marfa Suede Ankle Boots
Last, we have Levi’s Dreamy tank. This tank is the softest tank I’ve ever felt and I have a quite large collection, so that’s really saying something. I’m curious what’s the most fashion-forward way to style a tank right now?
I’ll come back to you on the most fashion-forward, but I feel like the way I have been wearing it in my personal wardrobe is actually I wore an outfit to the US Open last year, where I styled a white tank with upsize jeans that were also in white and a sweater tied around my shoulders.
Kind of leaning into that wrapped-up sweater as the scarf aesthetic we’ve been seeing a lot. Then ballet flats and a tennis necklace. That’s become one of my go-to outfits. Moving into spring, I think that’ll be one of my go-tos again.
In terms of the most fashion-forward, I’ve been really inspired by a lot of the A-line skirts that we’ve been seeing on the runway. I know Prada has had them in their collections for a few seasons. I think just adding a simple white tank top to the voluminous A-line skirt. Maybe a pair of kitten heels is a fun way to bring a tank top into trend from the runway that feels really directional.
Levi’s
Gallery Cardigan Sweater
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next, check out our interview with Ashley Graham.