If loose silhouettes are the current language of contemporary fashion, then barrel pants are its enduring, most sculptural expression.
Everywhere you look – from boutiques to runways – the shape continues to appear with increasing frequency, underscoring fashion’s continuous obsession with exaggerated, curved-leg forms.
Celebrities, especially, are spearheading the trend, styling barrel pants in ways that range from casual off-duty dressing to sharply tailored, statement-making ensembles.
Meryl Streep, currently drawing intense fashion attention ahead of the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, was spotted in New York City last week wearing white barrel pants by DISSH.
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Jessica Alba wore a pair of Free People barrel jeans to a Super Bowl celebration in February, keeping the outfit relaxed with a corset top and cropped jacket.
Other famous faces like Jennifer Lopez, Gigi Hadid, Michelle Williams, Halle Berry and Katie Holmes have also embraced barrel pants, largely as part of their off-duty wardrobes.
Julianne Moore has long been a fan of the style, stepping out in 2024 wearing a pair from Alaia.
She has since been spotted again and again embracing the look, reinforcing its place as a go-to in her public life.
Interestingly, Alaia has often been credited with the upsurge of the barrel-pants phenomenon. The shape appeared in the label’s Autumn/Winter 2023 collection and soon exploded onto the fashion scene.
Also known as banana pants, horseshoe pants or clown pants, they are essentially trousers with a seam that curves around the leg, creating a bowed-out shape at the sides before narrowing again at the ankle.
The design is said to have originated in the 1920s as a style of French workwear and riding trousers, though its history remains difficult to verify.
Brands that have sent barrel pants down the runway include Phoebe Philo, Loewe, Balenciaga, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, Roksanda, Bottega Veneta and Isabel Marant – and the list goes on.
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But perhaps Jacquemus was the label that popularised barrel pants for Gen Zs.
In March last year, Dani Michelle, stylist to Hailey Bieber, shared a snap of Bieber at Paris Fashion Week in a full black Jacquemus look comprising a sharp jacket top and barrel pants.
Another of Michelle’s clients, Kendall Jenner, has also been frequently spotted in the style.
Every decade has its own iconic trouser shape. From bell bottoms in the 1970s to skinny jeans in the 2010s, pant cuts shift according to the flavour of the moment.
While there have been murmurs that barrel pants are becoming overhyped, the trend somehow still clings on.
Last October, The New York Times dubbed 2025 the year of barrel pants. Fast forward to four months into 2026, and the design shows little sign of disappearing.
Like it or loathe it, it is here to stay — for now.
