Move over active wear. Denim is making a comeback, popping up like crocuses in spring wardrobes.

Roberto Cavalli showed a distressed denim mini dress covered by a lace overlay in a Milan show. Valentino sent a dark blue gown of cutout denim down the runway in Paris. Kenzo, shown here, infused denim with an Asian vibe in the spring/summer line.

On the casual front, denim has been shredded in recent seasons by such comfy garb as yoga pants. Jeans sales slipped 8 percent last year, according to the NPD Group, a consumer tracking company.

The new crop of jeans brings back flared legs, in addition to trimmer silhouettes, often teamed with bold striped jackets or print tops.  The Gap also is selling loose denim jackets and structured denim tops.

“There are so many options when it comes to wearing denim right now,” Jill Stanton, Old Navy’s executive vice president of product development and design, said in a statement. “We are seeing consumers’ appetites for all different kinds of silhouettes—boyfriend, straight, overalls, shorts, skinny, flares.”

Denim also is being shown in colors other than blue. Seven for All Mankind is selling white jeans with multiple shreds and holes in what the company called “a relaxed skinny fit,” meaning it is only slightly less form fitting than human skin. Zara has rolled out slim-fit jeans in charcoal with sewn-in knee pads.