Few items of clothing really deserve the description ‘iconic’ but for sure, Levi’s 501 do. As we approach ‘Levi’s Day’ (1 May… aka 5/01 if you are American. See what they did there?) and the jeans celebrate their 150th birthday, we look at a few fun facts about the ultimate workwear.
The jeans were patented in 1873 after a collaboration between a copper rivet maker and a dry goods supplier (called Levi Strauss). Originally labelled just XX, it was only in 1890 when they were given the lot number name of 501.
Mr Levi himself never wore a pair. He saw them as work wear for labourers and he was a businessman.
The jeans went through a series of minor changes during the next decades. In 1922, belt loops were added. The famous red tag was added to the back pocket in 1936 and a year later, suspender buttons were removed.
During WW2, metal was needed for munitions and Levi were asked to removed unnecessary rivets so the back cinch was taken off. It was also required that standard buttons were used and the arched stitching on the back pocket was deemed unnecessary. Instead it was printed. Any jeans made in this era are marked 501S – the S standing for simplified – and are insanely collectable.
501s really became popular straight after the war when they became the casual trouser of choice for returning GIs and then adopted by artists and musicians. Their iconic status as a symbol of counter-culture was sealed when they were worn by Marlon Brando in The Wild One in 1953.
Marilyn Monroe is credited with popularising the style with women after she wore them in two of her films – River of No Return and The Misfits.
The trend for 501s went international during the 70s and 80s. Their value soared, especially in countries like the Soviet Union where they were very scarce and could actually be used as a form of trading currency.
Time magazine named Levi 501s as the ‘Fashion Item of the 20th Century’ in 1999.
The company owns a pair of original 1879 501s which are kept in a fire-proof safe in the company HQ. Only two executives know the combination to unlock them.
Jeans weren’t called jeans until the 1950s. Before that they were named (somewhat erroneously) as overalls.
The highest price paid for a pair (so far…) is $87,400 in 2022 for a pair of 19th-century version found in an abandoned mine shaft
In 1985 Levi’s revived the popularity of 501s with the launch of a series of cinematic advertisements that were received with the same kind of anticipation as a new Avengers movie. Starting with Laundrette where Nick Kamen stripped to his boxers to wash his jeans, they were touchstones of advertising, bringing together supermodels, film stars (Brad Pitt starred in one) and music in a string of ads that lasted over 20 years.
