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The Best Ripped Jeans for Men Deliver Serious Attitude to Your Simplest Fits

Shredded to perfection.
A collage of four different models wearing ripped jeans for men on a colorful background
Collage by Gabe Conte

You've mastered the blue jean, from raw indigo to stonewashed. You own more black denim than Justin Theroux. Now it's time to graduate to the best ripped jeans for men. Beloved by icons like Kurt Cobain and Johnny Rotten, they've got serious attitude for days. The right men's ripped jeans will make a graphic T-shirt, flannel shirt, and mohair cardigan feel like the most punk look on earth, and they'll rev up just right with a leather biker jacket and moto boots. 

But finding the perfect pair of ripped jeans for men can be a tricky task. Too many rips and holes, and you'll risk showing off more leg than you bargained for. Too skinny a silhouette, and you'll look like a has-been Soundcloud rapper from 2013. Ripped denim is all about balance: a tasteful number of natural-looking abrasions and tears, ideally on a pair of jeans that don't look like they were painted on your thighs. To help you nail the look on your first try, we sought out the cream of the crop and came back with these 14 unbeatable pairs of ripped jeans for every taste and budget. 

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

  • 1/14

    Abercrombie & Fitch 90s slim jeans

    $79

    Abercrombie & Fitch

    Let's ease into this. If you just want a little taste, these subtly distressed jeans from Abercrombie are the perfect bite. They've got a few nicks that aren't anywhere near shredded, but definitely count as ripped denim in our book.

  • 2/14

    Levi's 501 '93 straight fit jeans

    $98

    Levi's

    The perfect straight leg fit to pair with everything from hoodies to sweaters to blazers.

  • 3/14

    Celine Homme "Kurt" distressed bleached jeans

    $970

    Mr Porter

    We love a pair of jeans with a tasteful paint splatter, and Celine Homme's bleach-ified numbers are giving us chills.

  • 4/14

    Levi's 531 athletic slim fit jeans

    $70

    Levi's

    Need a little more room in the thighs, but still want to keep the silhouette trim? These stretch jeans are the ones for you.

  • 5/14

    Neighborhood straight-leg embroidered distressed denim jeans

    $835

    Mr Porter

    Combine heavily washed black denim with a perfectly relaxed fit and hand-finished sashiko stitching, and you've got yourself a verified grail.

  • 6/14

    John Elliott The Daze jeans

    $598

    John Elliott

    The king of luxe sweats also makes some damn good distressed jeans.

  • 7/14

    Abercrombie & Fitch 90s slim jeans

    $89

    Abercrombie & Fitch

    With a single slash across the knees, these dungarees nail the grunge look without looking grungy.

  • 8/14

    FDMTL slim-fit patchwork jeans

    $590 $301

    SSENSE

    Traditional Japanese "boro" patchwork is the perfect complement to artfully torn denim.

  • 9/14

    Mihara Yasuhiro broken layered denim pants

    $1,252

    Mannahatta

    When you take the plurality of "jeans" as literally as possible.

  • 10/14

    Amiri distressed straight-leg jeans

    $740

    Matchesfashion

    Amiri jeans usually go way, way over the top, but these show a refreshing restraint that we're extremely down with.

  • 11/14

    Mavi "Zach" regular rise straight leg jeans

    $118 $90

    Amazon

    Ripped jeans on Amazon that are actually good? Yeah, we were surprised too.

  • 12/14

    Polo Ralph Lauren classic fit distressed selvedge jean

    $248

    Ralph Lauren

    You can always count on Ralph to deliver a great pair of jeans.

  • 13/14

    Paradoxe Paris bush denim

    $816

    Paradoxe

    Probably not what you had in mind when you went looking for ripped black jeans, but absolutely worth taking a flier on.

  • 14/14

    Acne Studios loose fit jeans

    $320

    Acne Studios

    Relaxed fit jeans like these look best pooled over some crisp skater shoes with an oversized graphic tee up top.

Gerald Ortiz is a style commerce writer for GQ covering fashion, grooming, and occasionally lifestyle. Previously, he was the style writer for Gear Patrol and the managing editor at Heddels. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with three degrees, none of which directly relate to fashion (so it... Read more
Style Commerce Writer
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