Everything's coming up denim

Denim never goes out of style, but there are seasons when your old, reliable five-pocket jeans simply aren't enough. This is one of those seasons.

The jeans legging - aka jegging - is still going strong, and denim designers are talking up the chambray shirt, asymmetrical motocross jackets, cutoff shorts and, still, the boyfriend pant. There are trouser styles and waistcoats for work, and, "rip-and-repair" jeans are a must for weekends.

Ralph Lauren had overalls on the runway and showed jeans under an evening gown. And a denim-on-denim outfit, considered a fashion faux-pas in the past, is a bona fide trend.

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"The American denim look is everywhere - it's in the air, it's all over the world," says Patrick Robinson, creative director at Gap. "The workwear feel is hot, especially for guys, and there's a sexy look for women. . . . It's about cool Americans and how they live, and we're trying to export that around the world." 

Tiny trendsetters

Denim is easy, denim is durable - perfect, you'd think, for some of the toughest customers around: babies and toddlers.

"Denim makes so much sense for everyone," says Jennifer Giangualano, senior vice president of design for BabyGap. Yet, young children - or at least their parents - don't do as much denim as everyone else seems to. There's a misconception that denim is hard and rough, but that's not the case, says Giangualano, who is helping launch 1969 BabyGap Premium Denim this season.

Don't look for cutesy embroidered flowers or trucks, though. "These are on trend but tiny," Giangualano says. "We think it's the cutest thing in the world." True Religion, Rock & Republic, Joe's Jeans and 7 for All Mankind are among the other premium denim brands with pint-size products.

- AP