As someone who wholeheartedly depends on the ease of an all-black outfit, few weeks go by when I don’t find myself reaching for a trusty pair of black jeans. They’ve long been the foundation of my most depended-on looks, whether styled simply with a tank and ballet flats, dressed up with a lace-trimmed camisole and kitten heels, or paired with a cotton shirt and polished heeled boots.
Augustine wearing Mango’s utility patch black jeans.
Augustine wearing Uniqlo’s black high-rise wide-leg jeans.
Indeed, the best thing about wearing black is that it lets silhouette and texture become the focus, which works particularly well when it comes to denim. Yohji Yamamoto put it best in a 2000 interview with Suzy Menkes for the : “Black is lazy and easy – but mysterious. It means that many things go together, yet it takes different aspects in many fabrics. You need black to have a silhouette.”
Whether sweeping and wide-leg, high-rise and straight-cut, sculptural barrel or retro bootcut, the best black denim offers many a styling opportunity, all while always retaining that air of quiet confidence Yamamoto speaks so fondly of.
top black jeans at a glance
When it comes to brands doing it best, high-street masters of minimalism like Cos and Arket have ample options, from inky jet black to perfectly faded iterations with a more undone feel. For oversized shapes, editors swear by Haikure’s low-slung, baggy-all-over Bethany jean, as well as Agolde’s exaggerated balloon styles.
Luxury brands like Khaite, Toteme and Victoria Beckham also offer great clean-lined black jeans, in slim and wide-leg cuts, while Alaïa’s cult barrel-leg jeans are a piece worth investing in – so influential, they’ve inspired countless high-street alternatives too. Here are the best black jeans to shop, in every style, according to the street style set.
Wide-leg jeans
The Wide-Leg Jeans
Citizens of Humanity
Straight-leg jeans
Barrel-leg jeans
Citizens of Humanity
Bootcut jeans
7 For All Mankind
Baggy jeans
Utilitarian jeans
Citizens of Humanity
Ayla Cargo High-Rise Wide-Leg Jeans
Low-rise jeans
