Liar, liar, pants on fire

Jeans were supposed to be timeless, flattering, comfy. They're none of the above. Is this fashion's longest-running scam?

- Kritika Kapoor

Is everything okay in the jeansverse? This July, American Eagle tried to tell us that Sydney Sweeney had good jeans (their racist pun evident in her blonde hair and blue eyes).

Gap clapped back with a “better in denim” campaign, featuring multiracial girl group, Katseye, dancing to Kelis's 2003 anthem Milkshake. But for an ad that claims to be inclusive, everyone looks suspiciously the same size, and in low-rise fits. Then, Levi's enlisted Beyoncé in rhinestone-encrusted bootcuts. Alia Bhatt is in the India campaign (in a sparkly, roomier fit). Taken together, the ads prove one thing: Jeans are not your friends. They're an acid-washed hoax. Here are the lies we've been sold.