Esquire Recommends: The best jeans for men in 2025
Blue, black, straight leg or flare - these are our top denim picks for men
Workwear’s revival, carried on the backs of Austin Butler, Jacob Elordi and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, has put men’s jeans firmly back in focus as one of the hardest working essentials in modern wardrobes.
Even more than the suit, denim jeans remain the cornerstone of a man’s style. They can become a signature, like a fragrance; a go-to, like a blazer. They have the staple versatility of a T-shirt, but the transformative power of tailoring. From slim fit jeans to relaxed straight leg cuts, denim is where personal style plays out – whether it’s the precision of a narrow fit, the ease of a regular straight leg, or the drama of a bleached wash.
Jeans for men carry cultural weight in a way few garments can. They’re tied to rebellion and labour, cinema and streetwear, worn by artists, musicians, presidents and mechanics. A pair of jeans can feel democratic, but also deeply individual – faded and shaped to the body of the wearer, telling a story that a new garment simply can’t.
In today’s market, the variety of designer jeans speaks volumes: Japanese purists hand-finishing selvedge denim, Parisian ateliers treating denim as couture, American heritage brands mining their archives, and Australian labels creating an unmistakable local vernacular. What follows is a survey across that spectrum, from understated essentials to avant-garde experiments, all united by the simple, enduring promise of denim.
The best men’s jeans to buy in 2025
P. Johnson Black Tony Jeans
Slim, straight fit
From a label better known for soft tailoring, the Black Tony Jeans prove that P Johnson’s relaxed elegance extends to denim. Cut slim but not severe, they offer a clean line that works just as easily under a blazer as it does with sneakers. The jet-black cotton is intentionally minimal, letting the brand’s signature restraint take the lead. In a category that can feel overworked, these jeans keep it simple, precise and quietly assured.
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Levi’s Vintage Clothing 1954 501 Jeans
Classic fit
The 1954 501 is a slice of denim history, faithfully reproduced by Levi’s Vintage Clothing. With its regular fit, button fly and iconic patch, it’s the shape that carried the brand into the modern era. The wash is lightly aged, the fabric weighty and honest. Wearing them is less about fashion than connection – to decades of workwear, rebellion, and style. Few garments hold this much cultural memory stitched into their seams.
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Ralph Lauren RRL Grandfalls Jeans
Vintage straight fit
RRL has always been Ralph Lauren’s playground for Americana: worn-in, hard-wearing, and deliberately nostalgic. The Grandfalls Jean continues that story with a vintage straight cut that feels like it belongs in a Wyoming workshop. Faded washes and tough cotton make them instantly familiar, as though they’ve already lived a life. It’s the Ralph fantasy distilled into denim – a reminder that workwear, when done with conviction, becomes not costume but character.
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Larriet Walé Jeans
Relaxed straight fit
Melbourne-based Larriet makes denim with a utilitarian eye and their Walé denim sits firmly in that lineage. A relaxed straight fit in a soft beige wash, they take the edge off blue denim’s ubiquity. The neutral tone leans into the brand’s pared-back philosophy – clothes that slide into your wardrobe rather than dominate it. Built for wear rather than theatre, they offer an ease that speaks more to comfort than posturing, which is Larriet’s quiet rebellion.
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Orslow 101 Dad Jeans One Wash
Loose tapered fit
Japan’s Orslow is denim for purists, and the 101 Dad Jean is practically a thesis statement. One-wash selvedge keeps the fabric stiff, dark and full of potential, while the loose tapered fit nods to 1990s volume without irony. Each detail – stitching, rivet, rise – has been agonised over, though you’d never know it from the way they wear. They’re anti-trend in the best way, reminding us that patience is still one of denim’s greatest luxuries.
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Tom Ford Slim-Fit Jeans
Slim fit (obviously)
No one does precision like Tom Ford. These slim-fit jeans offer a line so sharp it could pass in his tailoring. Subtle fading and carefully calibrated denim weight keep them from feeling sterile, but the mood is undeniably polished. Ford has long argued that denim belongs in the same conversation as eveningwear; these jeans make the case quietly but decisively. They’re a wardrobe constant for anyone who believes that off-duty is no excuse for slack.
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Celine Homme Wesley Straight-Leg bleached jeans
Relaxed straight fit
Bleached to near oblivion, the Wesley Jean channels Celine Homme’s penchant for rock and roll decadence. The straight-leg fit keeps things measured, while the finish is pure Slimane – gritty, lived-in, effortlessly nonchalant. These aren’t jeans for blending in; they’re for late nights, guitars, and cigarette breaks on the pavement. Denim here becomes costume and character at once, an act of styling that pushes the everyday into something performative.
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Assembly Label Straight Jean
Rigid straight denim
Assembly Label keeps things stripped back, and their dark stone wash jean is a masterclass in understatement. A midweight denim in a washed medium hue, they carry none of the theatrics of luxury but all the quiet confidence of good design. The cut is clean, the finish unfussy. These are jeans you don’t need to think about – slip them on, wear them hard, and let them become the background to whatever you’re doing.
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Bottega Veneta Crushed Jeans
Crushed fit
Even denim gets the avant garde treatment at Bottega Veneta. The Crushed Jean arrives in a light blue wash but with an unexpected wrinkle – literally. The textured finish collapses the flat uniformity of classic denim, lending sculptural depth to an otherwise relaxed cut. They’re playful without slipping into parody, a reminder that luxury’s role isn’t always to perfect, but to disrupt. Jeans, in this case, become a canvas for experimentation rather than nostalgia.
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Prada Five-Pocket Jeans
Cropped, tapered fit
Prada has never treated staples as untouchable. The Five-Pocket Jean is proof: a straight leg in clean, mid-blue cotton that carries the label’s architectural minimalism. The details are restrained, almost anonymous, but that’s the point. These jeans are less about embellishment than they are about line, proportion and context. They sit squarely in Prada’s world of uniform dressing – functional on the surface, subversive just beneath.
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Nudie Jeans Flare Glenn Dry Nostalgia
Regular, flared fit
A classic of the genre, these mid‑waist and regular silhouette lead into a sharp flare – echoes of early‑’00s cool – stitched in vivid orange. Over time, expect slubs, crosshatch and a marble‑like texture to emerge, each pair ageing into its own story. Denim made to grow up with you, not just sit pretty new.
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Wrangler Cowboy Cut Original Fit
High rise, straight fit
Since 1947, Wrangler’s Cowboy Cut has been the benchmark for rodeo denim. High through the waist with a straight leg that clears boots, it’s cut from rigid 14 oz cotton built for durability. Copper rivets, seven belt loops and the stitched “W” on the back pocket ground it in Western tradition, while the Shadow Black wash gives a classic shape a contemporary edge.
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Alexander Digenova duct tape jeans
Distressed, regular fit
Alexander Digenova’s duct tape jeans tread the line between art piece and garment. Grey denim cut in a straight leg provides the canvas, while taped seams and detailing give them their industrial bite.
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