The great flared jeans debate

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Kendrick Lamar played the Super Bowl Half-Time Show on Sunday night. It was a politically charged performance, featuring Samuel L Jackson as Uncle Sam (dressed in custom Bode nonetheless) and Serena Williams crip walking to ‘Not Like Us’, Lamar’s Grammy-award winning Drake diss track.

It will go down in history for a number of reasons — the all black cast, Sza’s guest performance and the stadium chanting ‘Not Like Us’ despite Drake having filed a defamation lawsuit earlier this year. However, what captured the general public’s attention more than anything else was Lamar’s choice of jeans.

Identified as Celine’s ‘flared surf jeans’, the dragging kick flares had the internet divided. Some praised Lamar’s bold fashion statement, while others recoiled at the prospect of fitted flares being back in style. Although, they are now completely sold out online — so what does that tell us?

Below, the Marie Claire fashion team weigh in on the debate, making their cases for and against. It may have been a while since flared jeans made their way into our best jeans round-ups, but it may not stay that way for long. Whether or not you’ll try the trend is up to you.

For

"Kendrick Lamar and Super Bowl commentary aside, I would like to preface this by saying it’s very rare for me to argue against a great pair of denim. Hence, my love for flared jeans. I will strictly note that Noughties iterations of flared jeans are not the inspiration I go by but rather the flouncy, bell-shaped, far-out bell bottoms seen in the ‘70s.

Think Cher, Farrah Fawcett, Mary Quant, and the OG girl band Sister Sledge. As someone who grew up with a lot of '70s influence and holds a particular fondness for the fashion of this era, I love the timeless allure that comes with flared jeans. Time and time again, this humble pair of denim has defeated all odds and established itself as a timeless silhouette that, albeit divisive, will always be in style.

Yes, I am Gen-Z, so odds are you will see me in a pair of baggy jeans almost every day, and if you've once heard me slander skinny jeans, no you didn't. But all that aside, that doesn't mean I hold any ounce of aversion against the slightly skinny yet voluminous silhouette. And it definitely doesn't mean I don't own one (or three) pairs of flares that I like to add to my denim rotation every now and then. Especially now that the style set is breaking out its own, leaving us with no choice but to discover new outfit formulas to style these.

Brands like Chloé, Celine, and Etro, who are avid purveyors of the modern boho trend have thrown flares into their Spring/Summer 2025 collections. Styling these with billowing blouses, yellow-tinted sunglasses, and platform clogs. Celebrities who have also incorporated this style include none other than longtime wearer Victoria Beckham, Pharrell, and the real Super Bowl 2025 winner, Kendrick Lamar.

How to style them? Easy. Opt for complimentary silhouettes that flatter the cut by reaching for cropped jackets, crisp T-shirts, and shoes that carry some extra height if you, like me, often find jeans to be slightly too long."

Sofia Piza, Fashion Writer

Against

"I want to start by saying that I’m a big Kendrick Lamar fan. His style evolution over the past few years has been a joy to watch, and I often think he’s one of the best dressed music stars today (largely thanks to his stylist Taylor McNeill). But when the lights came up on Sunday night, revealing him crouched on top of a black GNX car wearing too-long, frayed-hem, light-wash flares my instant reaction was — no. As someone who came of age during the early Noughties, this style of denim triggers thoughts of suburban high-school girls, who wore them ultra-low rise with a thong or lace french knicker peaking out of the top, accompanied by a shrunken zip-through velour hoodie and a Jane Norman shopping bag on the shoulder (IYKYK).

While I didn’t partake in this look myself, I was firmly on the other end of the denim spectrum — comically baggy skater jeans. Seeing Kendrick saunter his way through a giant stadium flanked by troops of dancers, racing up and down stairs, I was constantly worried he would trip over his too-long jeans — something I can relate to as a fellow short person. While there was no rain at the Super Bowl, there is plenty in the UK, and his dragging hems unlocked another core teenage memory of jeans soaking up water from the pavement, turning the bottom of them a darker shade than the rest of the leg. Not a good look, basically.

My previous denim trauma aside, there’s no denying that flares (not bootcuts, as they have so often been referred to over the past few days) are on the rise. We have seen Pharrell make the silhouette his uniform since he took up the position of men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton. An image of him and his wife Helen Lasichanh went viral recently, drawing comparisons to Pharrell’s outfit and that of a ‘boujee auntie’ given that he paired the light denim flares with a Louis Vuitton monogram fur-trimmed jacket. They aren’t an easy look to pull off — like any bold fashion statement, the wearer needs to possess a certain level of ‘je ne sais quoi’. While I’m not a fan of Kendrick’s look, I have to respect him for taking a fashion risk (and wearing a style of trouser notoriously suitable for those with height on their side).

I won’t be reaching for a pair of flares any time soon, but I do worry about the Kendrick fans and fashion bros who will. After all, ill-fitting denim is one of fashion’s biggest problems — with a flare, there isn’t really anywhere to hide. I shudder to think about cut-price retailers who are currently racing to bring out their own versions of Kendrick’s Celine jeans, enticing shoppers to ‘get the look’. Trends can be replicated and copied a thousand times over, but true style (and custom Martine Rose) cannot."

Rebecca Jane Hill, freelance fashion editor

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