Levi's® Station to Station: Process with the Levi's® Tailor Shop

Levi’s® has been in the business of making dependable and practical clothing for over 140 years. Many have viewed Levi’s® as a brand of function and practicality but beneath it all is a brand with a deeper creative agenda. The launch of their “Makers” program has set out to celebrate artisanal craft and domestic production, two elements of Levi’s® that the brand has held in high esteem. Levi’s® Makers program brings to the fore, glowing examples of the emerging craftsmen of all ages and disciplines, who have come to embrace the beauty of handmade goods.

Levi’s® Tailor Shop and Levi’s® Tailor Made Goods further support the brand’s affinity for craftsmanship and quality. With the likes of Jared and Laura of the Levi’s® Tailor Shop at the helm, the two utilize their own love of handcrafted things and high-quality construction as their mantra for repurposing and breathing new life into vintage Levi’s® apparel.

Over the course of September, Station to Station, a public art project made possible by Levi’s®, opened its doors to allow visitors to see the whole process unfold. For Levi’s® Tailor Goods the process often begins with Jared who heads up the design of each respective collection. The Trucker, which has proved to be one of Levi’s® most durable and rugged pieces, is used as the canvas for many of the Tailor Shop pieces. From there, Laura oversees the production aspect of each piece — be it a jacket, vest or bag — to ensure the new designs are cleanly executed. The Tailor Shop celebrates the innate element of imperfection that comes with handmade goods, as this imperfection lends itself to a quality that cannot be replicated or reproduced. These off-kilter items are often embellished with fabrics from Chimayo weavers or Japanese sakiori (vintage kimono materials that are shredded and rewoven), adding a yet another element of craftsmanship.

Station to Station, a public art project made possible by Levi’s® , spanned the month of September across the United States. Setting forth as an initiative to help push the boundaries of creativity and discovery through various pillars of culture including music, art, food and film, the project itself is manifested via a physical train that traversed from East out to West, ending late September, in Oakland, California. Continue onwards and join the public art project at levi.com/makeourmark.