Sunday, August 03, 2008

Levi's Vintage Collection A/W 2008

The LVC collection for Autumn & Winter 2008 is bound to confuse anyone looking at it the first time, because it has an 'Oldest Oldest' jean as well as a 'XX First Blue' jean.
Let's have a look at them so we'll be able to tell them apart from now on.

1873 XX First Blue Jean





The 'XX' is a reproduction of the oldest pair of Levi's jeans found. The original is from 1873 and pre-dates the '501' which is the name the XX would later be replaced with.
The reproduction is made in 9 oz natural indigo denim from the Japanese Kurabo mill.
The pair shown above has been washed once to bring forth the different shades in the slightly streaky denim.
This pair will cost about 350-400 Euro.

Here is Nils of Levi's wearing them the Levi's way - using one of the suspender buttons as the top button;



This is the Oldest Oldest. It is based on a pair, dated to 1875, that was recently found in a mining town in Nevada. It is not the famous 'Nevada jeans', though.
It comes in a raw, synthetic indigo, 9oz Kurabo denim(200 Euro) and distressed in a celebration package with a bag and a tee(500-600 Euro).





The raw version.




Levi's is big on packages this season. The 1927, 1966 and 1978(the card says otherwise but that's because it's from the SS08 collection) 501s can be bought together with a white tee of the same era. Just like the jeans, the tees have different cuts, fabrics and details.
Here's the 1933.



The 1927 501 premiers this fall. It's significance in Levi's history is not obvious, but it is a big part of Levi's marketing campaign. 1927 was the year when 'This is a pair of them' on the oil cloth tag was changed to 'This is a pair of LEVI'S'. Levi's pioneered brand building and managed to distinguished themselves from other workwear brands, some of which even had the now trademarked Levi's arcuate on the backpockets!
The 1927 is also the first replica that has belt loops, they were introduced in 1922, and the 501 was produced in 10oz denim instead of 9oz from this year.





1937, or 1936, was the year when the red tab was introduced. Again, it was a part of the marketing strategy.



The redline denim is all from Cone Mills while the plain white selvedge denim is from Kurabo.

Another newcomer is the 1978 501. It has a small 'e' on the red tab but still carries the selvedge on the outseam.
In 1978 the cut of the 501 was changed and made slimmer. The denim is now 14oz but still not sanforized.







The 1950's Shorthorn denim shirt is carried over from last season. Now without the red tab that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
7.5 ounce denim, mother of pearl buttons and a fairly slim fit.




Comes in a Shorthorn box.

More effort than usual is put on the tops for this collection.
Here's the 1910 Sunset wool shirt that was previously made in chambray(the Bunkhouse shirt) and a 1950's check wool shirt.
The collection is inspired by the lumberjack which is why there is a lot of heavy wool used here.
All the wool shirts come in Saddleman box, regardless of which era they're from.








The 1912 Sunset Sweater Coat is another example of the use of wool.


You probably heard of Levi's No.2, as in the 201, but did you know there was also a No.3?
The No.3 was the cheapest type that Levi's offered and it was made from leftovers and lower quality denim.
In order to replicate the denim of the originals, Levi's looked for a suitable loom on all continents and after some years of searching finally found one in Russia.

This is the 1911 340 Open Front Jumper. It was used as a shirt or a jacket when the weather was colder, perhaps with a wool shirt underneath.




Rusted buttons, only one color on the stitching, a very grainy denim and and almost quadratic shape.


This is also the first time there is a real focus on womenswear in LVC. Finally, they have made a 701, the women's version of the 501.

The 701 was considered leisure-wear even from the launch in 1934. Therefore it's made from lighter denim that is quite soft even in its raw state. The real workingwomen would wear the men's 501 instead.

Below is a comparison between the original and the reproduction of the 1950's 701.


Original



Reproduction





Original on the left, reproduction on the right. 10oz pre-shrunk denim is used in the 1950's version.

There's also the 1937 701, in a washed state. The '37 is slightly slimmer than the 50s version.


And last, a few washed men's jeans.

1927, 1937, 1966.











Washed 1967 505s, 'Butterfly Flat' and 'Clay Dipped'.


30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fina bilder! Rise på originalparet av Lady Levis e fucking massive!

Jag tycker 1978 ser väldans intressanta ut :) tråkigt bara att dom är sanforizerade

Anonymous said...

Hello Lill-David, the 1978 501® Jean is Shrikn-To-Fit. Go and buy a pair at SneakersnStuff :)

Anonymous said...

In fact, you can get the xx 1873 for the price of about 320 EURO (cultizm.com)

spacelounge said...

lilld, 701an e bästaste ever! kommer din tjej få ett par? ;)

Nils, can the tshirts/undershirts in the 33, 44, 55 packages be bought separately?

http://www.ringxring.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=240

Anonymous said...

Actually for FW08 it´s the 1927, 1966 and 1978 package. Some stores sell them seperately. If you live in Stockholm check Sivletto for the 20s tee, SneakersnStuff for the 70s and Solo might have some of the 40s from spring left. Anywhere else in the world, shout and I´ll give the right stores!

spacelounge said...

I made a few errors in the original post that have now been corrected! For example, the 1978 is NOT sanforized!!
Sorry guys.

Unknown said...

Hi - Question for Nils - Could you give some info on the denim used for the Knappave overall? - Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi sorry for late answer radish.. The denim is Kurabo and it is made in the US. Regards.

Unknown said...

Thanks Nils - much appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Nils, can the tshirts/undershirts in the 33, 44, 55 packages be bought separately?

same question but anywhere in Belgium? or from an online retailer? thanks!

Mike H said...

I see a problem with linking what is supposed to be a pair of levi's from 1875. On the label it has the word trademark on it, has any one seen the words trademark on any levi ad or paperwork of any kind before 1885? Levi trade marked the two hoarse brand in 1906. The label wording should have been the same from about the middle of 1874 to the mid 1880's with the addition of the word trade mark sometime in the mid 1880's. A true pair of 1875 levi's are not going to have riveted cinch straps. The first levi label from 1873 to mid 1874 read like this Levi Strauss and co sole proprietors and manufacturers of the patented riveted duck and denim pants. That is what's on file at the library of congress . Levi made only duck and denim pants for the first year. Take it for what it's worth, this is my opinion.

Anonymous said...

How can the oldest 501's be from 1879 when they didn't start naming 501's until sometime in the 1890's. What makes the 1879 pair from 1879 and not 1881, 82, 83, 84 or 85. Answer is, a guess and nothing else.

Anonymous said...

Reproductions from 1875, and the Sweeds bombed Pearl harbor in 1941.

western jeans said...

I would love to have this vintage collection. Something so cool to treasure.

Green Parks said...

Hello.. Firstly I would like to send greetings to all readers. After this, I recognize the content so interesting about this article. For me personally I liked all the information. I would like to know of cases like this more often. In my personal experience I might mention a book called Green Parks Costa Rica in this book that I mentioned have very interesting topics, and also you have much to do with the main theme of this article.

buy Cialis said...

I think that Levi's is the most sexy pant in this world, I mean do you watch the way Beyonce look in a Levi's pants? man those pants want to explote.

Ali said...

Amazing collection of pants these are absolutely fantastic...
Motorcycle Jackets

pharmacy said...

Hi, listen, I'm pretty new on this blogosphere and Internet thing, so I don't know if there's a sort of "subscription" method that I can use in order to receive notifications of your new entries...? Thing is I enjoy reading your blog a lot and I'd like to be up to date with your posts!

Tadalafil Online said...

I think its a pretty good idea not that there aren't other sites out there that already do something similar but I think it might catch on here pretty well.

que es seo said...

I believe everyone ought to browse on it.

Generic Viagra said...

Yesterday I read a short story about Levi's , it was great , it said that Levi's was created to the workers in the golden mines in USA!

contactos en barcelona said...

Well, I do not actually believe it is likely to have success.

Multiplayer Rummy said...

Hi , i got this Article , i was searching some thing relevant to this, And i am feeling lucky, as its the perfect one for what i am looking for. I will share this link on face book.

www.navarra-3d.com said...

I found a lot of worthwhile info here!

make extra money online said...

Levi's Vintage Collection A/W 2008
was on my taste.

Anonymous said...

Levis pent just have quality but don't have good designs.Research Paper Writing Service|Research Paper Help|Pay For Research Paper

Seattle Jobs said...

SO cute! Love your blog.We were waiting for the response and she did a great job with the interview that she did. would like to say thanks very much for the share

women leather bomber jackets said...

Nice post love reading it
Womens Leather Skirts

hallsarah204@gmail.com said...

I enjoyed reading this post! I love your jeans, especially if this pair will cost about 350-400 Euro! The price is excellent as well as the quality! Best wishes, proofreading-services.org

susan said...

Pay for Research Paper service is required to be written by students at the end of each semester and term. They have to be detailed and can be written on several diverse topics from technical, social, scientific to any contemporary issues. When students are required to write research paper they tend to get sharp analytical skills and can write original content. Apart from developing such skills, they learn problem-solving, presenting logical and constructive solutions to several problems. If the student aims to achieve good academic success then he must produce good quality research paper only then can they have a bright future as grades really matter. Pay For Research Paper
live assignment help