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Wide leg pants? What’s in fashion. Falling flat on your face while wearing pants? What’s trending.
Technically, the Zara pants at the center of a new Internet phenomenon are called “flowing leg pants,” which cost $45.90, are made of polyester, and boast an elastic waistband and front pockets.
But on social media they are popularly known as “killer pants” or “killer pants” or “Zara pants” because people keep tripping over them and hurting themselves.
“These Zara pants are dangerous!” host Jessica Pearce wrote in the caption of a July 1 TikTok video showing footage of her looking at the entrance and yelling “Oh, f–k off!”
“POV: the victim of Zara pants,” wrote another activist, Camila Ribera Roca, in a video that has been viewed 1.2 million times in which she walks along the sidewalk and shows herself cleaning her bloody elbow.
“These Zara pants need to come with a warning because now I’ve broken my knee,” wrote Holly Gilmer in a TikTok video that begins with her limping to the side of the road in her flowing pants, then leaving the hospital in a wheelchair.
There are thousands of similar videos posted on various social media using the hashtags “Zara death pants,” “dangerous pants” and “Zara killer pants.” Some of the people in the videos showed themselves tripping, and many said they were left with bruises, scratches and even broken bones.
The problem is that the shiny, very wide fabric seems to wrap around people’s feet when they walk, according to the UK’s Fashion Times. On social media, one customer said she had been wearing the pants for five minutes “and now she has no nails.”
“You’re safe out there,” a creator named Morgana wrote in a video with 2.7 million views showing her injured knee and elbow, as well as damage to her phone.
CBC News reached out to Zara and has not received a response. The company does not appear to have made a public statement.
Design, not brand
But some fashion experts have noticed that, regardless of the type, any pants designed with loose fabric around the feet will be dangerous. And not just tripping, but also getting caught in bike chains, machines and escalators.
However, this style of pant is also a hot commodity, and Zara is far from the only company that sells them. Vogue recently announced the wide-leg pants “one of those rare ones wardrobe staples that really works for almost everyone, in almost every setting,” adding that they’re “open and forgiving but still polished and elegant.”
“They’re the trend of summer ’26 pants simply because the continued heat means they’re a great, cool way to dress the lower body for women who can’t wear skirts or miniskirts to work,” stylist Clare Chambers told the UK’s Metro last week.
According to Nine in Australia, many people in their newsroom have had accidents while wearing tight pants, including wide-leg jeans and trackpants.
Alison Perry, a UK broadcaster and author, posted a video in May saying “wide leg pants should come with a health warning,” and noted how many of her followers commented on their “Wide Leg Trouser Trauma.”
A brief history of pants injuries
While Zara pants are trending right now, it’s not the first time the pants have gotten us dirty.
Last year, singer and actress Suki Waterhouse wrote on social media that “she was wearing tight pants … it caused a hernia.” She posted a picture of herself wearing tight leather pants, and another in a hospital bed.
In 2015, an Australian woman was admitted to hospital with severe weakness in both ankles from “shooting in skinny jeans,” according to a medical report. published in the journal Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
She was helping a family member move, noticed that her pants felt too tight all day, and then experienced “a drop in both feet and numbness” on her way home, causing her to trip and fall.
“He spent several hours lying on the ground before he was found,” the report said, adding that medical professionals had to cut off his jeans.
And according to a 2023 update submitted to the US National Library of Medicine, trouser zippers are the most common cause of pee injuries in adults, with nearly 2,000 cases reported each year.
A collection of historic underwear is circulating in Nova Scotia museums. CBC’s Meig Campbell explores the layers of fashion history and changing standards of beauty for women, men and even gangsters.
