Sweatpant jeans are in — they look like denim but are 100% cotton

May 25, 2024

Tired of wearing real pants? Don’t sweat it.

As summer heats up, there’s a sizzling new fashion trend taking over — sweatpant jeans.

Fashionistas are clamoring to get their hands on a pair of the 100% cotton sweats, printed to look like jeans, delivering an optical illusion that could deceive even the sharpest shopper, or their bosses. The denim duds have been seen going viral left and right on social media in recent months.

A woman sitting on a table wearing the viral Rag & Bone Miramar sweatpant-jeans with a realistic denim print and slouchy fit. — TikTok has proven to be a boon for business, as the ultra-comfortable sweatpant-jean hybrid trousers have taken social media by storm. Rag & Bone

Clothing brand Rag & Bone has done a great deal to make the ultra-casual look ultra chic; the pants from the brand’s Miramar collection — billed online as looking “like denim but feels nothing like it” — are flying off shelves.

24-year-old Maddy Chang works in finance, but has worn the pants to her corporate office, telling the Wall Street Journal that “no one mentioned that they looked like sweatpants.”

“They’re such a great conversation starter,” San Diego social media manager Samantha Zhang, 36, told the Journal. “Everyone is legit shocked they’re actually sweatpants.”

While not everyone is on board — some have branded the trousers as “odd” — Rag & Bone has churned out 200,000 units so far this year, Jennie McCormick, the company’s chief design and merchandizing officer told the Journal.

The allure of the trousers, according to rave reviews from TikTokers, is the comfort masquerading as uncomfortable, stiff denim.

“I think they’ve solved jeans forever,” Lisa, a content creator who boasts nearly 30,000 followers on TikTok, admitted in a recent video.

Meanwhile, creator Sydney Silverman called the denim a “life hack,” saying they look “professional” and “legit” enough to wear to work.

The faux jeans are now available in a bevy of styles — wide leg pants range from $175 to $238, joggers are offered for $155 and shorts for less than $100 — harkening back to the skin-tight jegging heyday of the Millennial-driven early aughts, zipper and all.

“It’s the Gen Z jegging,” Vancouver content creator Rachel Spencer, 30, told the Journal.

“I’m a millennial, and I never thought I’d be wearing any sort of faux denim again, but here we are.”