All is not as it seems at the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre. Where four men once stood – resplendent in skintight polyester and denim-elastane blends – we now see an altogether different scene. The same men have returned, but this time they’ve swapped their taut trousers for roomier models. Poky pinstripes are replaced by slouchy straight legs, compact jeggings by capacious cargos – there’s not even a single ankle in sight. Up top, things are looking similarly sizeable, as nipple-bearing polos and constricting sleeves are exchanged for outsize hoodies and tees. These are the Four Lads in Jeans, and they have bent to society’s warped prejudices. They have burnt the Library of Alexandria. A rich text is lost.

The OG photo of the four lads was posted back in 2019, and quickly captured the nation’s imagination thanks to their sheathlike attire. The snap spawned a multitude of memes, international debate and even their very own statue outside All Bar One Birmingham – so why make the change now? Well, sponsored content of course! In a video posted to the Bullring’s TikTok account, the four men head inside the shopping centre “on a mission to find the perfect pair of wide leg trousers,” hitting up brands like Arket, Levi’s and Superdry for their upgrades. “The Bullring is the ultimate destination for fashion,” proposes the voiceover, somewhat convincingly.

While we’d all love to hit the shops on someone else’s dime, what does this switch-up actually say about the way people are dressing now? In 2024, the four lads bowing to society’s pressure makes a lot of sense. The outfits that they wore in 2019 read as dated even then, and what they have on now rings truer to how TikTok often proposes the majority of people should dress. What’s even more interesting, though, is that this new development comes during a freshly revitalised debate in fashion around the return of skinny jeans. While they’ve been resurfacing on runways like Aaron Esh and Miu Miu, maybe this is more evidence that the general public just isn’t ready for them yet?

Having said that, we all know fashion loves a contrarian stance (that’s ultimately how you push the envelope), so now that the Four Horsemen of Skinny Jeans have finally switched to straight, that’s probably a sign that a fully-fledged revival actually is on the horizon: the trend cycle has made yet another orbit around the sun, and it’s just sweeping the lads up now, before it ultimately moves on. Either way, we salute their fashion exploration and the spoils it may bring them. Godspeed, Four Lads in Jeans.