With the Spring/Summer 2007 dress trend in full swing, it appears that one staple of fashion has hit a brick wall when it comes to sales. Denim, which has spurred a profitable premium market, is beginning to see a slow down and decrease in sales ever since the designers of Fashion Week deemed the dress as the must-have clothing of the season.

Fashion Writer, Elizabeth Wellington of the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote an article this past weekend that caught my attention. According to her article and the New York-based market research firm NPD, sales of moderately priced jeans saw an 11.7% drop from $284 million in the first five months of 2006 to $250 million with dress sales increasing 27% from $4.5 billion to $5.7 billion. While the premium denim market still made a 24% increase in 2006/2007, it is not nearly the 46% increase that it saw in the previous year.

As temperatures begin to cool down come October, it appears entirely possible that navy and deep blues will replace our denim “look” and according to Wellington, we’ll be seeing these colors in tailored trousers. While I’ve also found myself wearing less denim this Summer, I can’t imagine doing away with it entirely, most especially in colder weather. I’ve always loved the look of a warm sweater and denim in the Fall and to think of a season without it, seems unimaginable.

What do you think; will denim continue its back burner status or return come Fall?