Overnight, Dark-Wash Jeans Fell to #2 After NYC It Girls Started Wearing This Unexpected Winter Denim Color Instead

Ask any fashion editor at Who What Wear what the number one denim trend of winter 2025 is, and they will tell you it’s dark-wash jeans—period. The deep denim color has been widely seen adorning style icons such as Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, as well as appearing in new collections from leading denim brands like Citizens of Humanity, Levi’s, and Agolde. However, in a quick turn of events, dark-wash jeans have fallen to the number two spot among top denim color trends, and light-wash jeans are taking the number one spot as It girls in NYC keep wearing them. Case in point: Sabrina Carpenter.

Yesterday, while leaving lunch at SoHo’s pasta hot spot, Bar Pitti, with Sergio Kletnoy, the entertainment director of Vogue, Carpenter was spotted wearing an Aritzia long black wool coat, an ivory cable-knit sweater, baggy light-wash jeans, and Balenciaga’s iconic black Le City bag.

As mentioned before, Carpenter isn’t the only fashion insider wearing light-wash jeans this winter. Ariana Grande was also spotted in NYC donning light-wash baggy jeans, styled similarly to Carpenter’s, with a long black coat and a black leather handbag. Stranger Things actress Maya Hawke was also photographed in the city wearing them, a more fitted style though that she paired with a black sweater, puffer jacket, and woven Mary Janes.

On Sabrina Carpenter: Aritzia The Slouch Coat ($375); Balenciaga Le City First Bag ($1350)

To say the very least, we editors are surprised that light-wash jeans are having a moment right now, at the beginning of winter. Typically, the light-wash hue evokes brightness and freshness, feeling less heavy and more seasonally appropriate for spring or summer. Overall, it lends a relaxed vibe that pairs well with airy tops and open-toe shoes. But then again, we get it: Light-wash jeans are often associated with vintage styles because of their lived-in look, and at the end of the day, who doesn’t love the look of jeans that seem as though they’ve been through countless adventures and stories.