The Who What Wear Podcast: Denim Expert Jane Herman on the 5 Jean Styles to Keep in Your Closet Year-Round, and Her Favorite Silhouette for 2026

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Who What Wear

Society & Culture, Careers, Arts, Personal Journals, Business, Fashion & Beauty

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jane Herman, the founder of denim line The Only Jane, author of the popular Substack Jane on Jeans, and newly appointed WWW editor in residence, is a denim expert. In this episode, Who What Wear co-founder and Chief Content Officer Hillary Kerr sits down with Herman for a 2026 denim digest, where they discuss the five types of jeans you need for a complete wardrobe. Plus, she gives recommendations for specific styles to help you transition away from baggies and barrels, and shares simple styling hacks for altering your jeans at home.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Who What Wear podcast, your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors, and tastemakers who are shaping the ever-evolving world of fashion.
0:22.2	I'm Who What Wears co-founder and chief content officer Hilary Kerr, and today I'm chatting
0:27.9	with denim designer and expert Jane Herman. You may know Jane from her LA-based denim brand,
0:35.1	the only Jane, which she founded in 2020 with a single jumpsuit style
0:40.2	that has since become a wardrobe essential. She's also the author of a substack newsletter,
0:47.5	Jane on Jeans, where she writes about all of her favorite denim pieces and where to find them.
0:52.5	Plus, she's one of Who What Wares, new editors in residence.
0:58.6	Jane joins us to give us her predictions on which denim styles are going to be big in
1:02.7	2026 and also shares her expert styling advice and the five essential jean styles you should
1:10.8	have in your wardrobe no matter the season.
1:13.6	It's all coming up on who what wear.
1:22.5	Jane Herman, welcome to the pod.
1:24.5	I am so excited to have you today.
1:27.0	Thank you for joining. I'm so happy to be here, Hillary. Thank you. Yay. This is particularly meaningful for me because just full transparency. Jane and I are very old friends. We have known each other since we were baby assistants at Elle Magazine. I have now known you longer than I have not.
1:47.0	More than half our lives, yeah. And I am always so excited to speak with you in an official and
1:53.1	work capacity because you are, without a doubt, the most formidable denim expert I know from writing about it to making it to wearing it and
2:03.0	everything in between. But let's go back and talk a little bit about your background and how you
2:08.6	became such an esteemed expert on many things, denim being one of them. You've often said
2:14.8	that denim is in your blood. Can you explain that a little bit for our audience?
2:18.7	Yes. It starts for me with my family. I grew up in jeans. That's the best way to put it.
2:25.3	My dad is Ron Herman. He owned for decades, some of L.A.'s most influential retail stores. And denim and jeans were a really big part of the stores. There was
2:38.3	the famous gene bar, which was in the men's department downstairs that sold all the latest and
	...

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