Alix Earle Is Bringing Back Skinny Jeans with a New Campaign and Collaboration for Frame
After a near decade of forced retirement demanded by Gen Z, skinny jeans are reentering the conversation — and TikTok star Alix Earle is leading the charge. The social media wunderkind, who has amassed over seven million followers on the video-sharing platform, is reviving the aughts era staple with her latest campaign and collaboration.
Earle has teamed up with Los Angeles-based brand Frame on her perfect skinny jean, dubbed “The Alix,” launching Jan. 23. Available in a classic blue wash ($128) and a coated black style ($148), Earle and Frame’s skinny jean pays homage to the silhouette of the 2000s. It was styled for the Inez and Vinoodh-shot campaign accordingly, too.
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“The inspiration came from taking something that was no longer ‘in style’ and giving it an upgrade that would reintroduce it in a fresh, new way,” Earle told WWD of what sparked the collaboration. “The main issue I’ve had with the style in the past was comfort — they were either too tight, too high-waisted or too low-waisted, so I really aimed to incorporate all that into making my version of a perfect skinny jean.”
In the campaign for “The Alix,” the 24-year-old models the blue skinny jeans with a rolled-up cuff, a pair of pointed-toe stiletto heels, and a striped black-and-white t-shirt. Earle, meanwhile, pairs the sleek faux leather-looking jeans with a tonal bralette and choker, finishing the look with a pair of platform clog shoes.
“The last few years have definitely been all about the baggy jean, so I’m excited for people to rediscover how good a skinny jean can be,” Earle added. “It’s a perfect way to dress up an outfit. I love wearing them with a heel/boot.”
Beauty-wise, Earle’s look completes a full return to the aughts with a thick smokey eye and a near-nude lip. If Earle’s beauty look, which also features bleached brows and Brigitte Bardot-inspired hair, looks familiar that’s because it was worn by her for her debut campaign for Frame this past September.
In September Earle starred in a campaign for Frame to promote the brand’s Le Sleek Straight leg jean. In the campaign, Earle models the ankle-grazing jean cut from stretch denim with a long-sleeve striped shirt.
Frame, which was founded as a denim company by Erik Torstensson and Jens Grede in 2012 and has since grown to include womenswear and menswear, has also collaborated in the past with Karlie Kloss, Imaan Hammam, Claudia Schiffer, Jordan Barrett, Lara Stone and Ben Gorham.
This fall Earle inspired throngs of her Gen Z followers to reconsider the skinny jean after sharing a video of herself wearing a pair on TikTok. Over the past four years, Earle has become known as much for her style as her beauty recommendations, which led to her inking her first global ambassadorship last February with Hero Cosmetics.
Up until this Frame collaboration, however, skinny jeans have remained a frontier of aughts fashion that Gen Z had yet to fully cosign — unlike low-rise jeans, micro miniskirts (specifically the ones belonging to Miu Miu and Diesel), Uggs, cargo pants, butterfly tops, and ballet flats, to name a handful.
Skinny jeans popped up on the runways for fall 2024, however, with Miuccia Prada sending out low-rise skinny jeans with a midriff-baring cropped denim jacket for Miu Miu and Demna pairing painted-on skinny jeans tucked into knee-high boots with a thick floor-length scarf for Balenciaga.
Celebrities have also taken note. Last year in February Meghan Markle stepped out in a pair of skinny jeans for dinner in Los Angeles, and this past November Taylor Swift suited up in skinny jeans while attending a Kansas City Chiefs game.
For Earle, though, putting her stamp on the skinny jean wasn’t informed by the slow-burning return of the style; it preceded it. “I actually met Erik back in 2023 and pitched him the idea of bringing back the skinny jean,” she told WWD. “I had no idea if he was going to be into it or not but luckily, he felt the same way I did, and the idea for ‘The Alix’ jean was born!”
“The driving force was really my love for the style and inspiration to reinvent something that has seemingly been deemed as ‘out’ by the internet,” Earle added. “This year, I am putting a lot of energy into finding my personal style and I would definitely say skinny jeans are a forever staple. I wanted to create something that could be worn by anyone, for any occasion.”
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