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The Story Behind the
LVC 1976 501 Mirror Jean
- Paul O’Neill, Head Designer, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing
Just a handful of these were made from the deadstock fabric. However, it inspired us to reproduce our 1970s denim in left- hand twill with Cone Mills, and make a small run of the 1976 501® Mirror Jean for this year’s Spring Summer collection.
We figured that the only way we could use this beautiful fabric was if we mirrored every detail of the garment, so when held up to a mirror, it would appear to be a regular righthand twill 501® Jean! We mirrored absolutely everything from construction details to the writing that appears on the inside of the rivets.
The Mirror Jean will see a drop as exclusive as the rare denim that served as inspiration for them. Only 501 pairs will be made available at world-wide boutiques such as the Levi’s® Vintage Clothing store London, BEAMS, Colette, Oi Polloi, Unionmade,
C Store, Cultizm and the Levi’s Meatpacking store NYC as well as the Levi’s online store.
For spring 2017, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing introduces a limited edition of its 501® known as the Mirror Jean. LVC seeks to reproduce the fits, fabrics and details of rare and iconic pairs of Levi's, and for this release it pulled a 1976 variation of the 501® from its archive. The ’76 501® entered the market during the dawn of the punk movement as the Ramones dropped their first album and the Sex Pistols debuted their first single. With a slightly slimmer leg and lower rise than its earlier counterparts, the 501® of the ’70s echoed the waves of change in pop culture and politics.
This Jean came about when we were given a small amount of deadstock 1970s denim from Cone Mills. We were really excited at the prospect of making 501®s from original ’70s Cone Mills denim. When we received the fabric we noticed it was a left-hand twill, meaning the distinctive grooves in the denim run left-to-right diagonally-down the face of the material. Traditionally Levi’s® only uses right hand twill — especially on the 501®.
Sees the World in Reverse
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LVC 1976 501 Mirror Jean
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The Super Limited
Only 501® pairs of the 12oz raw denim will be made.
