Study on Jeans vs. Leggings Imports

last updated 5 March 2018

It's a Saturday and you're heading out to run errands—would you wear leggings or jeans? If you would wholeheartedly choose the former, then statistics are finally catching up with your wardrobe. Quartz just reported on data that revealed a striking revelation: "US imports of women’s elastic knit pants exceeded those of blue jeans in 2017 for the first time, according to data from the US Census Bureau."

Plus, Quartz explains that denim imports peaked all the way back in 2010 and have been declining since then: "Since their peak, women’s blue jeans imports have declined by an average of 3.9% annually. Over the same period, elastic knit pants grew 25.7% per year on average." Now, we're not saying jeans are going anywhere, but these numbers definitely prove that the athleisure trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Opening Image: Splash News

Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern over 14 years ago—back when the site only published a single story per day. (Who What Wear has since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC, which is how she ended up moving to Los Angeles from her hometown of San Diego. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2016, where she currently holds the title of Associate Director of Fashion News (as well as the unofficial title of resident royal expert—in case you haven't noticed her numerous Kate and Meghan stories). She spends her days trying to incorporate her idols, Anna Wintour and Roger Federer, into as many stories as possible.