Monday, August 16, 2010

TALKING ABOUT INFLATION....

Out of the closet where sitting for the last 13 years.....
You said inflation !?? i know they are not period perfect but compare with the price tag of your regular LVC 501....
555 Valencia plant's id #.......
Nice 1955 high rise cut ........


Another round of spring cleaning/organizing led to a new discovery.I'd actually forgotten I had these plus some others.......
These rare jeans were manufactured in the now closed Valencia Street factory as part of the Levi's Capital E vintage range, which ran from 1989 until the launch of the LVC line in 1996.they are the Levi's first attempt to reproduce the good ol'501. Levi has used the valencia st plant,which opened in November 1906,to sew certain products within its high-end vintage collection LVC . It's where the company produced replicas of the famed Nevada jeans .Every times i pass by the old plant ,i still wonder why they've sold this iconic piece of American history- . One of the very early vintage products before the brand became diluted.
So what happened during the last few years that lead to this !?? Levi's closed down ALL north American manufacturing, and laid off 2000 employees, 7 years ago in 2003. NO Levi's product has been made in the US or Canada since! that is to my humble knowledge .How ironic ,that lately,they've tried to capitalise on the old "American work force" image and the made in America concept too...
Levi's used to be made with 14.5oz Cotton and they now use 12oz cotton. The main reason for the move was the price point. Walmart would not sell Levi product until they could make it profitable for them. Till 7 years ago ,you could not buy Levi's at Walmart. For any product that Levi list at $50, Walmart wants to be able to sell it for $30 and make $15 on it. So Levi had to get their cost down to be able to whole sell a pair of jeans to Walmart at $15, so their material and productions cost on a pair of jeans is around $7 i guess. It seems that was not possible with American made 14.5 oz cotton jeans right!??.
This pair is a totally genuine rare product from my own personal collection and a collectors item in it's own right. The denim is 14 oz dark blue and quite hairy/fuzzy, and will improve dramatically with age. Inside label is stamped 555 as is top button[for Valencia st plant]. Cut is 1955.

8 comments:

  1. As a slight correction.. Levi's never sold the factory on Valencia, they're donating the entire space to an elementary school. They still own the property and building.

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  2. good !!!!.i've always wondered. it seemed so crazy to me . rumors ,rumors ,rumors ...thx for correcting me

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  3. interesting... what about?:
    levisxfilson
    levisxbrooks bros.
    levisxjcrew
    all american made.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Hello l'ami… allez sur tes bons conseils je vais me bloggiser un poil… quelques "cancans" made in france et j'en profite pour parfaire mon English… tout benef !!!!
    la bize…

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  6. bien joue Callaghan a plus sur la toile.....

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  7. I've seen lot's of LVC stuff in the past couple years that say "Made In U.S.A."...I believe they are being made here, but not by Levi's. Contracted out?

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  8. that's mean, last levis was made in USA is in year 1996???

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