Note: These pants were sent to me at no charge for review.

One of the most popular items out there is to make performance denim — to take your standard blue jeans and tweak them somehow to make them better than denim. Ministry of Supply seems to have went for all of that, and then some with the Chroma denim. They claim: no color fade, ‘smart stretch’, and durable construction.

And, in my testing, I think they are on to something here.

The pants are made of a cotton/poly/elastane blend that feels like stiff denim, but stretches impressively well. Slightly rough on your skin, like the type of pant you can wear for years.

The fit is fantastic. They look modern without being too slim. The wash on this pair I got is a deep and dark indigo. It is fantastic looking.

So while they feel rough, they look like a very nice pair of denim — certainly something you could wear for a night out — whenever those come back. And for those with more relaxed dress codes at work — these will look very sharp.

The magic of these pants is in what Ministry of Supply calls “smart stretch” — because they never seem to stretch out to the point where they need to be washed to tighten back up (a common issue with stretchy pants is the knee area gets misshapen and baggy). And yet, they also wear stiff, while moving with you. It’s a bit like magic, really.

Of all the performance denim I have tried, these are my favorites. I love them, and I suspect I am going to get a lot of wear out of them once the weather cools back off here in Houston. In the meantime, while I am stuck working from home, they are a part of my staple wear for the days the A/C is blowing a little too strongly in my home office. Well done.

This is a truncated version of the review I posted about these on Everyday Wear, if you want more in depth thoughts, go check that out.