The coolest style statement today still remains a pair of true-blue jeans, which continue to inspire a cult following believes Shirin Mehta

Little could good ole Levi Strauss have imagined that the brown tenting material he carried to gold prospectors in California during the gold rush, would metamorphose into the fashion fabric of the century.

Since Levi's astute business turn around, denims have been stitched over and under, riveted, pocketted, slashed, ripped, shredded, splashed with paint and encrusted with lace. (The '30s saw cowboy jeans made popular on the big screen; the '70s flowered into the hippie age; the '80s saw the designer label emerging….)

Levi's and Wrangler, the true blue-blooded, were joined by fashion rip-offs which appeased the label conscious. Guess is a perennial favourite and The Gap has entered the hallowed almost-blue-blooded legions. A myriad labels made their own statements from the rebellious to the body-hugging stylish. Check these out: Evisu regularly featured in Vogue; Diesel for the outre; Earl Jean, a must-have with fashionistas in style-conscious Mumbai. And on the indigo bandwagon, jump the couture houses.

There's enough indigo here to make an inkpot blush. Yet, I grew up in jeans, turbulently teenaged in them and finally zipped them up firmly in middle age. Nothing indicates that I will not wrinkle serenely into a pair of designer cut-offs, far from the rebellious indigo of my earlier days. And, as I grow into, grow out of and grow forward to the newest cut, I realise that the thing about jeans is this. That they mellow like very fine wine. That they grow old with amazing sensuality.

Designers Wooing Denim

Aki Narula: Denim look, in overshirts, jackets, jeans….

Fantasy denim: I would make the best pair of jeans that would completely hug the butt and that would be the new 'Butt pair of jeans by Aki'.

Rina Dhaka: Denim look, considering denim styles in her new collection.

Favourite pair: My new Chip and Peppers from Barneys. I love grey washes.

Fantasy denim: Currently, I would go in for a cool distressing - denim shredded into a lace-like pattern, yet where it does not fall apart.

How to wear your new blues

• Keep them hip-hugging, the lower-riding the better to show off those navel rings and hip tattoos.
• Accessorise with bright colours - orange, pink, yellow - be contemporary.
• Neon handbags and bright-hued stilettos carry your day blues to night. Sequinned tops and halters make them glitter.
• Embellish your latest buy with Swarovski, lace or stick-on sequins. Go crazy with a paintbrush. Do it yourself and use your imagination.
• Fold the hem and pin it up with safety pins. Great for the monsoons. Reference: Max and Co's current collection.
• Tapes of Swarovski crystals attached to hem, pocket, belt tabs, can dress up jeans to advantage.
• Pair with body-conscious T-shirts in vibrant colours; show skin this season