In fashion currently, trouser shape firmly sit in two camps – skin-tight, as with the revival of skinny jeans, or ultra oversized and baggy. But, perhaps, there is a third way. Enter – once again – the flare.
The trouser shape, first popularised in the 70s and flirted with briefly five years ago, is back again in 2026. Resale app Depop says there has been a 30% increase in the searches for the style this month alone.
If they were initially worn by hippies and dropouts at Woodstock in the 60s, this latest moment takes its cue from high-profile women who might be described as “alpha”.
This week the TV presenter Claudia Winkleman wore a suit with flares that pooled over her shoes on The Traitors, while Hailey Bieber – previously the patron saint of baggy jeans – was photographed wearing a pair of flared trousers in LA.
Some alpha celebrities have made flares part of their signature wardrobe – Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham regularly wear flares, often with a blouse or T-shirt tucked in. Beckham chose to wear a version of this outfit in her recent Netflix documentary. Donatella Versace, meanwhile, often wore flares with stilettos for her post-show bow.
Sinead McKeefry, Winkleman’s stylist for The Traitors, says the Essentiel Antwerp suit worked for the presenter because it had a “chicness … I love to see flares not always considered to be 60s or 70s thing … it’s a very modern take on the flare.”
Daniel Rogers, the fashion news editor at Vogue, agrees flares have now moved on from boho chic. “I think these are about looking smart and polished, and being more more dressy with it,” he said.
Footwear is central to the alpha flare, Rogers adds. “You have to wear that kind of flare with a platform, or a spiky pointed stiletto peeking out from the bottom. I think that’s what makes it so assertive as a look.”
This take on the flare is very far from its Woodstock roots. “I don’t wear flares and a high heel, so I don’t know, but I can’t imagine it’s a particularly practical look,” said Rogers. “It becomes a status thing. It says ‘I can wear this because I’m getting into an SUV in two minutes.’”
As the Depop data suggests, flares are also being taken up by people who might use public transport. Rogers says this could mean flares are “2026’s answer to the barrel leg”.
Essentiel Antwerp’s creative director and co-founder, Inge Onsea, agrees they are a third way in the current trouser wars. “They’re the perfect in-between,” she says “combining the definition of a slim trouser with the ease of a wider cut, which is exactly what makes them so flattering.”
McKeefry, meanwhile, describes the look for Winkleman as a “palate cleanser … on this series, we’ve mixed knits and tartans and all the different patterns. Between all of those things, the simplicity of that suit gave me a moment to just breathe.”
Onsea says flares bring a different mood for 2026. “After seasons dominated by oversized silhouettes, they bring back confidence,” she said. “Flares feel optimistic.”
