Would you dare to wear these extreme cut-out denims?

Recently, a Los Angeles-based company launched ‘extreme cut- out’ jeans, which leave little to the imagination. Described as, ‘a high-rise pant with large statement cutouts on front and back,’ it sent people on social media in a tizzy wondering who would buy and wear such denims. Also, the shocking lack of material and the price it’s being sold for ($168) didn’t seem to go down too well with many. We asked style experts whether there are any takers for it.

Breaking through the clutter

Designer Shruti Sancheti says that international brands come up with such outlandish designs as “they don’t want to limit themselves with denims. Instead, they want to show how creative they can get with them. Also, it’s a lot to do with grabbing eyeballs.”

Designer Payal Singhal, on the other hand, calls it a fashion evolution. “Fashion reflects the mood of our times. Brands usually do it for shock value. But people have seen so much happening that hardly anything shocks them anymore. In order to make one sit up and take notice, brands have to go to extremes,” she opines, adding that the scope for such jeans is limited in India. 

Meanwhile, designer Payal Khandwala laments, “There are always fashion victims who fall prey to such bizarre trends, and there are enough people who have the money, so why not? Personally, I find it silly because on one hand, women are fighting for equality and they don’t want to be viewed as mannequins or bimbettes, etc. On the other hand, such bizarre fashion objectifies them. Why would anyone even bother wearing something like this? The problem with trends is that they go to extremes in order to stand out because there’s so much clutter.” 

She adds, “There’s no market for these extreme cut-out jeans in India. I don’t approve of trends that distill women into sexual objects. There’s a fine line between vulgarity and sexy and this is on the lines of vulgarity.”

For the young and outlandish

As for their target consumers, Shruti says, “It’s mostly in the 16 to 25-year-old bracket. It’s likely to be worn by the young and outlandish who enjoy media attention. These jeans are exorbitantly priced and certainly not marketed for the middle class. Later, if high-street brands come up with cheaper imitations, it will be targetted at common folks,” she says.

According to Singhal, the young female Bollywood brigade like Disha Patani and Shraddha Kapoor can carry it off well. It wouldn’t suit someone with a voluptuous figure, as it would look ‘too revealing’. 

Shruti couldn’t agree more. She says. “Someone with a well-toned body and lots of confidence would be able to pull off the extreme cut-out jeans. There’s a thin line between vulgarity and sexy. Indian women are generally heavy on the hips and thighs, so it won’t do much to flatter their figure. But someone like Deepika Padukone and Aditi Rao Hydari would look kind of cute in it.” However, she adds, “These fall in the athleisure/daily wear category. Also, though India is experiencing globalisation and urbanisation, today, 60 to 80 per cent of the crowd is still conservative. So I wouldn’t recommend it for a public appearance or as part of an airport look, as it might shock a lot of people.”