How to wear harem pants like Hailey Baldwin, Jessie J – and MC Hammer, of course
- Several brands including Redemption, Joseph Altuzarra and Isabel Marant have harem pants in their autumn-winter collections
- Depending on how the wearer pulls it off, harem pants are great with spaghetti strap tops, boob tubes, suit jackets and massive cardigans
The 1990s rapper MC Hammer might be best known for hits including U Can’t Touch This and Pray, but in terms of his style choices nothing stands out more than his signature harem pants: the baggy, flashy trousers with Middle Eastern overtones that are an indelible part of his look.
“You can move in ’em. You can dance in ’em … and it gives you freedom of movement,” he told ABC News in 2009. “It’s a slight delay. You move, and then the pants move, so it brings a nice little flair.”
The showman – who is currently preparing to tour for the first time in 28 years, criss-crossing the US – first donned harem pants at a disco in the late 1970s to boost the buzz his dance floor performances caused. The triple-pleated pair he wore were an instant hit.
Today, harem pants are back on runways, spotlighted by the Italian brand Redemption, New York’s Joseph Altuzarra and Paris-based Isabel Marant in their autumn-winter collections.
