Craziness, Arse Backwardness and DIY Hippiness… Highlights of the Spring Summer Collection from Levi’s Vintage Clothing.
Recently, we brought you the Spring Summer 2017 collection from Levi’s Vintage Clothing. Digging into their archive, Levi’s sought inspiration from the Summer of Love in 1967, coinciding with the 50 year anniversary of that trippy, hippy turning point in American culture.
As always, the mood shots from Levi’s perfectly emoted the spirit of the time but let’s take a closer look at a couple of the standout pieces in the collection. One is Crazy and the other is simple arse backwards.
For Us Denimheads
The first piece is for us dyed-in-the-wool denimheads; The Mirror 501 Jean. Levi’s is famous for its denim used in the 501. It is red line selvedge, around the 12 oz mark and RIGHT-HAND TWILL. It was the other lot over at Lee who did the left-hand twill denim.
These Mirror jeans came about when Cone Mills gave them a call. They offered the design team at Levi’s a roll of dead stock denim from the 1970s. Of course, Levi’s jumped at the chance and had them send the fabric over. When it arrived, they discovered that it was Left Hand Twill. What to do, what to do?
“When we received the fabric we noticed it was a left -hand twill, meaning the distinctive grooves in the denim run left – to – right diagonally down the face of the material. Traditionally Levi’s® only uses right-hand twill —, especially on the 501®. We figured that the only way we could use this beautiful fabric was if we mirrored every detail of the garment, so when held up to a mirror, it would appear to be a regular right- hand twill 501® Jean!”
Paul O’Neill,
Head Designer Levi’s® Vintage Clothing
The jeans come in the 1976 fit in line with this special denim’s age. It might be a decade after the Summer of Love, but we’ll forgive them this on account of how nuts and awesome this notion is!
Up Next: Madness!
The second pick in the Spring/Summer Lineup is also pretty out there. In fact, it is totally out there and certainly not for everyone but for those who simply love Levi, then these would be an indispensable addition to the collection.
Aptly named the Crazy jeans, they were inspired by the sketch comedy show, “Love In”. They are in the Spikes fit, produced by Levi’s in 1967 from 100% cotton canvas. No white denim here! The crazy comes from the screen printed designs adorning the front and back of the pants. Love ’em, or hate ’em, there is no doubt that Levi’s Vintage Clothing is having a ton of fun this season. These are made in extremely low quantities – only 100 have been produced. So, be fast if you want them in your collection.
The DIY Vibe of the Times
We will leave you with the Eastern Jam jean as it perfectly echoes the do it yourself, “peace man” spirit of the Summer of Love. Based on the 1962 551Z jean, this item was inspired by a pair of Levi’s Big E jeans found at some point and incorporated into Levi’s Archive. The jean has first been bleached, then screen printed with the Pease Symbol adoring the entire length of the jeans. Slightly more subtle than the Crazy Jeans, but not much!
