Levi's Vintage Clothing Celebrates 501 Day with 1955-Inspired Release

To mark this year’s 501 Day, Levi’s Vintage Clothing has looked into the archive for a special-edition release. The new jeans are based on the 1955 version of the 501, and are made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim. Referencing this theme, and last year’s 1966-inspired release, every element from the back-patch and red tab to the packaging and stamping on the buttons has been translated into Japanese.

The 1955 jeans feature a looser fit with a wider leg, as well as a button fly, boxy fit and Big-E red tab. The denim used is a 12-oz weight, and has the “hairy” texture often associated with Japanese denim.

Speaking about the launch, Levi’s Vintage Clothing head designer Paul O’Neill explained, “We wanted to celebrate this mutual commitment to quality, craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail with a limited run jean that’s also made in Japan. The 501®, after all, has such a long and important history in Japan—to this day, vintage 501®s are very covetable jeans on the Japanese market, so it seemed only natural that this limited edition jean should be yet another classic 501® from the Levi’s archives.”

The 1955 Japan 501 Jean is due to arrive on May 20 — also known as 501 day — and will be limited to just 501 units across the world.

For more about Levi’s, learn about the brand’s Project F.L.X. in our latest What the Tech? article.