On 20 May 1873 the US Patent Office granted patent 139,121 to Jacob W. Davis, assigned to himself and Levi Strauss & Company, for metal rivets at the edges of pocket openings so the seams stop ripping. That small fix is the reason jeans became work clothes you could trust. It is also why the current return of real denim feels less like a trend and more like a correction. GQ said in February 2026 that jeans are getting darker again, with raw, deep-blue denim making a triumphant return. Lyst's spring and summer 2026 men's denim report adds that no single fit dominates, straight leg is the baseline, and selvedge is being styled with tailoring and technical outerwear. So I am starting with jackets. RRL, which Ralph Lauren launched in 1993 and named for the Double RL Ranch in Colorado, is known for perfectly faded denim, and its embellished jacket is the showpiece of this grid. Neighborhood began in Harajuku in 1994 out of motorcycle culture, and the Savage embroidered jacket keeps that edge. Carhartt WIP's Helston is the paint-splattered, workwear-minded one. Wear any of them over a plain tee and gray trousers. What I would skip is the Human Made pleated jacket under a heavy coat, because the pleats bunch up.

A denim shirt is the easiest way into the trend, because you can wear it open like a jacket or buttoned like a shirt. Rag & Bone was founded in New York in 2002 by English friends Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, and it started with a single pair of dark men's jeans; the first season sold 50 pairs to three stores. The blue denim shirt here has that same downtown directness. Rubinacci, founded in Naples in 1932 as London House, is better known for its soft Neapolitan jacket, so its blue denim shirt is the one to wear under a blazer. Zegna's light blue and Canali's navy do the same polished job. At the other end, the Mr P. Western denim shirt in black, from Mr Porter's own label, and the FrizmWORKS black shirt are made for jeans in a lighter wash. My rule is to avoid matching washes head to toe, so a dark shirt with pale jeans or the reverse. What I would skip is the NN07 Adwin fil coupé-jacquard shirt under a denim jacket, because two busy textures fight each other.

This is the grid to linger in, because straight leg is where the current thinking lands. Acne Studios began its denim reputation in 1997, when Jonny Johansson made 100 pairs of raw jeans with red stitching and gave them away to friends and family, and the straight-leg cotton pair in blue is a clean descendant. Blue Blue Japan started in Tokyo in 1996 around traditional Japanese indigo dyeing, so its sashiko straight-leg jeans are the hand-feel option. TOM FORD announced his label in April 2005 and opened the first flagship on Madison Avenue in 2007 with the menswear debut, which explains the sharper selvedge straight-leg jean here. The Row's Moe, Dries Van Noten's straight-leg and Oliver Spencer's Westall in navy are all quieter. If you want width, Our Legacy's Vast Cut in black and Willy Chavarria's flared pair are the two to try. Test a pair by sitting down and checking that the knee does not pull. What I would skip is the KAPITAL Monkey Cisco leather-trimmed embellished jean for a dinner where you want the denim to stay quiet.

3sixteen is the label I would hand to someone who wants to learn raw denim. Its modern history began in 2008 with the SL-100x, and it develops its denim with Kuroki Mills in Okayama, which weaves selvedge on vintage Toyoda shuttle looms. The classic straight-leg rinsed selvedge pair in blue is the one I would break in first. A.P.C., created in Paris in 1987 by Jean Touitou, first gained renown for raw-denim jeans, and the Martin straight-leg carries that raw-denim lineage. RRL's slim straight-leg and Graphpaper's selvage tapered pair are good for anyone who prefers a closer leg. For width, Sacai's wide-leg belted jeans in the Levi's collaboration and YOKE's black wide-leg pair are the fashion-forward answers. Wear dark pairs with a white tee and wash them rarely. What I would skip is the Kartik Research bead-embellished distressed jean for a dressy dinner, since the beads and distressing are the whole point of that pair.

Real denim asks you for patience, and that is the appeal. A pair that starts stiff and dark slowly takes on the shape of how you live, which is why the Davis rivet patent from 1873 still feels relevant. If I were building from this edit, I would buy one straight-leg pair first. Choose a dark pair from 3sixteen, RRL or A.P.C. and wear it for months before you even think about washing it. Then add a denim shirt in a different tone and, if you are ready, a jacket. Denim on denim works when the two tones are clearly different. Keep the proportions simple, a slightly cropped jacket over a straight leg, or a shirt tucked into a wide pair. Let the pieces age at their own speed, and do not rush them toward a vintage look that real wear gives you for nothing. The best pair in this edit is the one you still reach for in a year.

If one pair of dark jeans is the start, this shelf is the second and third. I would split it by fit. For straight legs, the RRL selvedge pair, the Studio Nicholson Marylebone, the NN07 Sonny 1843 and the Canali garment-dyed jeans are the ones I would compare first. The Rag & Bone Fit 3 and the distressed RRL are slimmer, and the FRAME wide-leg is the one to try if you want more room. NN07 also offers the Ross pair in organic and recycled denim. On top, the Graphpaper selvage jacket and the KAPITAL denim jacket pair well with the AGOLDE Boyle and Nili Lotan Travis denim shirts. What I would skip: the distressed RRL if you are trying to break in a dark pair, because it arrives already worn. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Denim Diva and Denim That Actually Works With Heels.