BUILT TO LAST
501® JEANS: THE VINTAGE JEAN FIT TO WEAR FOREVER
Campaigns and Collaborations /
January 2022
Did you know that one of the most obsessively sought-after vintage items is the Levi’s® 501® Original? This legendary fit is not only totally timeless, but it actually gets better the more you wear it. So, it should come as no surprise that people covet their beloved pairs even if they’re beyond repair. There’s usually a colorful backstory about how they copped their dream denim and an eventful narrative of rips and fixes that only adds to the undeniable cool factor. And thanks to the Levi’s® Tailor Shop, which expertly customizes, repairs and helps you reimagine your denim, you can breathe new life into a vintage pair or add a lived-in vibe to brand-new Levi’s® 501® Jeans. The denim possibilities are endless.
Creative change-makers Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Tremaine Emory both have a unique denim obsession that starts with their prized pairs of 501®Jeans. We recently spoke to them about their blue jean origin stories and how this style transcends trends and truly represents the past, present and future of iconic style.
Tremaine Emory is the visionary creative director behind the buzzed-about streetwear brand Denim Tears—which got its evocative name from a much-loved pair of thrashed 501® jeans. After moving to London in 2010 to work with Marc Jacobs, Tremaine happened upon Levi’s® Haus, London, the sustainability-minded concept shop on Carnaby Street. “I tried some stuff on, but the Levi’s® 1954 501® Jeans fit me great,” he recounts smiling. “I wore those things every day and they’re ripped to shreds now, but they became my second skin. I wore them all around the world.” It was this very pair that, years later, would be the impetus for Tremaine’s signature storytelling and collectible wearable art. “The thing started as a joke at a dinner party before a DJ set. It definitely was like a eureka moment,” he continues excitedly about the story behind the name. “This nickname from the jeans getting so ripped and a joke about how the back patch looked like a ripped-up heart. And then everyone was like, ‘It looks like your denim is crying’ and I’m like, ‘Denim Tears.’”
What began as an LOL session morphed into something so much deeper and poignant as Tremaine began to excavate the other hidden meanings gleaned from the name. “Not even purposely, I realized there’s something here. It’s like the attrition of life, Denim Tears. I started to build out the iconography of the brand and talk about the plight and the glory of the African diaspora and when I was given the opportunity to work with Levi’s®, to show the connection of how this country was built off the cotton tree. When I launched the brand, it happened to be exactly 400 years since the first slaves came to America.”
When asked how 501® jeans factor into his wardrobe, Tremaine described the fit as being an essential of the highest degree. “If you go on a trip and you forget your denim, it’s like if the power goes out, and you’re like, ‘Man, how do people live without power, without running water?’ And it’s the same thing.”
Stylist and fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson is the creative mind behind many of the scroll-stopping editorials that have helped to redefine the fashion canon. From Billie Eilish and Tyler, the Creator to Selena Gomez and Gigi Hadid—to name only a few—Gabriella has brought her spin to some of music, fashion and Hollywood’s biggest stars. Last year, she took her vision one step further and became the first Black woman to style a “Vogue” magazine cover. To say she’s an influential force in fashion is a total understatement.
The shred and the fraying really is like fine wine. Levi’s® jeans just get better with age.
– Gabriella Karefa-Johnson
Through Gabriella’s personal evolution, she has found freedom in rejecting antiquated standards of beauty and outdated societal norms. “When I really realized that the whole Greco-Roman beauty ideology is so arbitrary and so false, I felt this extraordinary liberation and felt beautiful, sexy and comfortable in my skin.” This feeling also translated to the clothes she chose, including her favorite 501® Jeans. “I remember wearing really baggy 501®s because it was a way of hiding. Now I feel so beautiful, so hot and so cool in a baggy pair of 501®s. And it’s not because I’m hiding anything, it’s because I can be whoever I want in them.”
There’s a universality to the fit that aligns perfectly with Gabriella’s style POV and personal ethos. “I think they work with so many different shapes—the 501® is so adaptable. And the way that it comes from Levi’s® into your house, it’s already perfect.” When asked what she loves most about this iconic pair, she leans into the longevity of the design that only gets better with time. “The shred and the fraying really is like fine wine. Levi’s® jeans just get better with age.”