Denimology

Levi's iPod Jeans

A couple of months ago I mentioned that Levi's had decided to create a special pair of iPod jeans. I was hoping that the blanket negative publicity that surrounded the original announcement may have made Levi's realise the error of their ways and bury this idea. Unfortunately they decided to follow it through and the results are now available for everyone to see.

Usually anything associated with the iconic iPod benefits from some reflected cool but these jeans actually manage to have the reverse effect of making the the iPod look crappy. Everything about these jeans is wrong from the colour and horrible white stitching to the ugly pockets and what I assume is a remote control. These are the kind of jeans that if you wore them to school you would be justifiably bullied for the rest of the year because of it.

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World's Oldest Levi's

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article about Lynn Downey the historian for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco who is responsible for Levi's extensive archives of clothing, photographs, posters and artifacts. The jewel in this amazing archive is the world's oldest pair of Levi's (see above) - a pair "XX," one-pocket jeans, which date back to 1879 and are valued at $125,000. Unfortunately the archive is not open to members of the public, however there is a permanent display of choice pieces from the collection in the lobby of the Levi's Heaquarters in San Francisco.

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Nylon Magazine Special Denim Issue

Nylon magazine's special issue dedicated to all things denim is now available online. It features denim obsessive Ashley Olsen on the cover, is jam-packed full of great denim articles and fashion spreads and even manages to find space to mention Denimology on page 81. Who could ask for more?

The Denim Torturers

The New York Times has an interesting article on an Italian company that specializes in ageing and distressing jeans on behalf of brands such as Levi's, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. The scale of the operation at Martelli Lavorazioni Tessili is vast - they employ 9,000 people to artificially age 120,000 pairs of jeans per day which in 2005 generated revenues of $140million.

Levi's To Launch Organic Jeans

One of the buzzwords that I keep seeing mentioned by jeans manufacturers is "organic denim". Now you can call me a cynic but I am not sure that this is because these companies actually care about the environment or because they are just looking to hop aboard any passing bandwagon. Levi's are the latest company to announce that they will be including jeans made from 100% organic cotton in their Autumn 2006 product line. These jeans will be known as "Levi's(R) Eco" and will include features such as a natural colored canvas "Levi's(R)" tab and a "Two Horse Patch" made from 100% organic fabric to differentiate them from standard Levi's. One thing I am sure of and that is that anything labelled "organic" is always priced at a premium, so expect to pay more for these jeans that your usual 501s.

Denim Forums Now Open

I have been getting quite a bit of mail recently from people with denim related questions. I do my best to help out, but there is still lots of stuff I don't know about denim. So I thought I would open some denim forums where everyone could join in, if there is something you need to know about denim then you can post your question where everyone can see and hopefully someone will be able to help you out. The forums aren't just for asking questions though, if anyone has any comments or opinions relating to denim please feel free to leave them.