The fact that Swedish denim brand Julian Red's new Tron-esque video features male style-bots strutting to techno in skinny-legged, saggy-butt bubblegum-pink jeans isn’t such­ a crazy thing. What is kind of shocking, though, is the fact that the pants are appealing to a new crew of stylish and straight young men.

 Take 22-year-old photographer Sean Donnola for instance. His style icons lean more towards Cary Grant and James Dean than David Bowie or Keith Richards. Yet, there he sat the other day, eyes glued to the candy-colored images flickering on his computer screen. "Where can I get those?" he asked, excitedly. Is men's fashion really this forward-thinking?

For decades, brands like J.Crew and Ralph Lauren have been mass-producing men's garb in colors typically considered effeminate.  Yet, men's denim has, for the most part, remained true blue. Until now. 

"The denim trend is peaking,” proclaims Julian Red's co-founder and head designer Mattias Lind.  "There is a trend of giving the classic five-pocket a new look, with new fabrics; and I personally don't like jeans with glass beads on the back pocket, a pink elephant embroidered on the fly, or a little poem written on the cuff." 

Instead, Lind -- like some other brazen denim designers -- has opted to explore a range of candy- and condiment-colored washes. Inspired by “the musical scene of 'Madchester' in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s -- the acid scene mixed with indie-pop," Lind’s fall denim collection comes in canary yellow, prison orange, and hot pink. "The orange ones are classy, the yellow arty, and the pink...hmmm...tough," he explains.

Feeling similarly “bored with blue jeans,” Ron London of the new Australian denim brand Selvedge has designed a fall line that ranges from ruby red and mustard yellow to purple. And Tsubi, the party-hard sportswear label also from Oz, has sent out neon-licious denim for the past five years. (But they also, it should be noted, put live rats on the runway.)

So, will men really wear juicy-fruit jeans?  "At first they will be hesitant," predicts Richard Cadet, owner of Famous Friends, an East Village denim shop notorious for being the first to carry in-demand European brands.  "But after a while they'll be buying it up,” he adds, citing the recent raw-denim phenomenon as a precedent.  "More fashion-forward guys want to feel special," says Cadet. And the fact that "a lot of brands have widened distribution," in his opinion, is depleting their chances of landing highly individual customers.

Cadet is so sure it’s going to be a big trend, he’s literally bought into it: For next season, he’s ordered a healthy stock of colored denim, although he remains tight-lipped about which brands he’ll be carrying.

Here’s our advice: Diana Vreeland once said, “A little bad taste is the spice of life,” and we couldn’t agree more. Go ahead, guys, think pink. Just not head-to-toe. The key to doing color down below, is keep it simple on top. A slimmer cut works well, but be careful that the pants aren’t too tight: No one’s going to take you seriously if you’re in pomegranate leggings.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

Get Yours:

Famous Friends, 616 East 9^th Street, NYC, 212.460.9094, famousfriendsnyc.com

For where to find Julian Red jeans: julianredjeans.com

For more on Selvedge, selvedge.com.au

Tsubi info at tsubi.com