On May 20th, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis secured a patent (No. 139,121) for “an Improvement in Fastening Pocket Openings.” The West Coast at that time was a loose patchwork of farms, ranches, railroads and gold mines. Jacob Davis—a tailor from Reno, Nevada—had the idea of placing rivets on work pants at points of strain, and joined forces with his denim supplier Levi Strauss in San Francisco. The riveted blue jean was born. Soon, Levi’s® became the clothing of choice for the rugged, hodgepodge band of workers, outcasts, entrepreneurs and outlaws building America’s future. For Spring/Summer 2023, in celebration of the 150th year anniversary of this patent, we pay tribute to their innovation and collaboration.

Everything changed during World War II: American media, the workforce and even the jeans they wore. In order to conserve raw materials for the war effort, the United States government mandated all clothing manufacturers to remove a certain amount of metal, fabric and thread from their garments. And so off came the watch pocket rivets, the crotch rivet and the cinch, along with its two rivets and on came standard issue laurel leaf buttons.

But one rationing mandate was more difficult to bear: the order to remove the Arcuate stitching that set Levi’s® jeans apart from the rest. Rather than lose the signature Arcuate, we worked out a system to print the arcuate design on every pair of 501® Jeans that came out of the factory. While the paint eventually washed off, the important part was that the stitching was visible at the time of purchase. Today, we recreate this historical garment— our 1944 501® jeans—in rigid selvedge denim.

• An archival reproduction of 1944 501® jeans
• Made without the watch pocket rivets, crotch rivet, and the back waist cinch to conserve raw materials for the war effort
• Features the iconic arcuate painted on the back pocket as a solution to the rationing
• True to the original, it features varied pocket bag material, unbranded rivets and unbranded standard-issue buttons with a laurel leaf design
• Two back pockets with concealed rivets
• Big “E” single-sided Red Tab™
• Better clothes. Better choices. We made this garment with organically grown cotton, which uses no synthetic pesticides and saves water
• Crafted in premium Japanese selvedge denim from the renowned Kaihara Mill
• Made in Japan by expert artisans using traditional techniques