After an airline barred two teenage girls from boarding a flight to Minneapolis Sunday because of their attire, 7 Eyewitness News sat down with a professor of retail and textiles to gain insight on our obsession with the form fitting trousers.
United Airline took to social media in an attempt at damage control explaining the girls who were placed on a later flight in Denver were subject to a dress code because of their use of the buddy passes through the airline.
Dr. Lynn Boorady, Chair and Associate Professor of fashion and textile technology at Buffalo State say the article of clothing in question is part a growing new category of clothing called athleisure.
Boorady says leggings are gaining so much popularity they are changing the way denim is sold.
"A lot of denim companies are scrambling right now because leggings are so popular," she tells 7 Eyewitness News.
"Denim manufacturers are trying to make the jeans more relevant to today's customers."
This retail expert says often with popularity comes controversy. Middle Schools and High Schools across the country have made headlines after banning the bottoms, deeming it a violation of the dress code. But the professor says the legging trend is like many other trends in fashion, initially shocking but over time deemed socially acceptable.
