To celebrate its 150th anniversary of the iconic Levi’s 501 jean, Levi’s is presenting 3 new sustainable products: a Plant-Based 501, a hemp-cotton blend Selvedge 501, and a Circular 501 – that show how new thinking and technologies can be applied to an age-old classic.
The Plant-Based 501 is made of at least 97% plant-based materials, with all certified organic cotton, natural dyestuff, a plant-based patch and ink made from wood waste. These jeans show what the industry could look like in the years ahead given the push to minimize synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels and the need to make more garments with renewable inputs rather than finite resources. They are an evolution in the company’s design innovation practice, building on past seasons and establishing new foundations on which to build going forward.
“As a company that has been making 501s for 150 years now, we have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to continually interrogate the process by which these jeans are made,” says Paul Dillinger, VP of Design Innovation at Levi Strauss & Co. “These jeans build on past efforts to create more circular jeans and in turn give us a foundation for future innovation.”
“We want to show what is possible,” says Dillinger. “At the same time, we’re challenging ourselves to get closer to a state where products like this represent more of a product line, and where they’re seen not as the endgame, but a starting point that we want to top next season, and the season after that.”
Additionally, building on its efforts with cottonized hemp over the years through its Wellthread line, Levi’s is releasing a hemp/cotton blend Selvedge 501.
“In our ongoing research and development, we strive to improve our design practices and conserve environmental resources every way we can,” says Una Murphy, Levi’s® director of design innovation. “By incorporating sustainable innovation, in mainline and premium product alike, we learn what’s possible and how we can continue working towards solving some of our biggest challenges.”
Also being highlighted as part of the 150th anniversary celebration is the Circular 501, a jean made with a mix of organic cotton and Renewcell’s pioneering Circulose® fiber, viscose made in part from recycled denim and other forms of textile waste. The formulation allows the use of far fewer natural resources and chemicals in the production process. Each material component aligns with a strict single-fiber strategy that enables efficient recycling at the end of the garment’s useful life. By replacing parts of the garment that would normally be made from synthetic fibers – like polyester pocketing, threads, labels, and interfacing – with 100 percent cotton alternatives, Levi’s removed synthetic elements that would otherwise disrupt the cotton recovery process. The result is a new jean made with old jeans that is itself designed to be recyclable, with the potential to be re-made into new jeans, again and again.
“Together, these three versions of one of the most iconic garments in all of apparel, the 501®, show that while we are still focused on producing classic garments that consumers have known and loved for decades, we are also looking to improve how we make our products, moving in the direction of more circular products and practices,” says Dillinger.
