min2max

just to be clear, my philosophy is actually always to support local businesses.. i had the intention of buying at old england (perhaps negotiate a bit but still) i don't mind paying a bit more to support locally but again within reason, my point was mainly about the paranoid downright condescending attitude in a lot of high-end boutiques (especially here in paris, it's a local speciality lol) fortunately there still are good places run by good people, perhaps an endangered species !

I think actually the moral of that story is that real shops are disappearing fast because of cheap online retailers much to the frustration of shopkeepers and sooner or later the nice knowledgable shopkeepers will be gone forever.

but the moral of the story is also that shopkeepers should keep that frustration to themselves and not take it out on potential customers.

must agree with both of you... a couple months ago i was at Old England here in Paris, a legendary 5000ft store created in 1868 (!!) exclusive carrier of british goods and only store in France carrying Trickers... the salesman was acting extremely paranoid asking me where i'd heard of Trickers and even being reluctant to have me try a pair on (!!!!) after realizing i was more then knowledgable and passionate on the subject of footwear he confessed to me that 90% people trying Trickers in their store end up buying them online. Old England closed in January after 144 years of existence.That is of course very sad news, but it's also true that this store was well known for an insane markup and the salesmen were extremely off-putting with who i assume weren't their regular customers..

long story short, i think the moral is that shopkeepers need to adjust their pricing policies accordingly to the online competition (within reason) and remain friendly or at the very least corteous towards any potential customer if they don't want to suffer an ill-fated outcome.

the subject of photography is a little bit more sensitive, i'd definitely ask before..

honestly the quality and design of some of the stuff - including the cotton parka - is actually very good and light years ahead of +J imo

most of the collection is very light and deconstructed, people are confusing this with "cheap" but its done purposely for spring/summer.. i think jun, through his collaboration with nike, understood the limits, that is not try and take a luxury high fashion approach and adapt it to uniqlo. not everything is a success, it's hit & miss, but what does work is really good imo. the promo shots don't really do the clothing justice, some of the fabrics are really interesting irl, even some of the cotton T's are in a really awesome cotton weave, zippers are chunky and customized... sounds silly perhaps but its the small attention to simple details like these i appreciate, and most important the cut on most stuff is really on point with smart articulations in the sewing, it's mostly active wear though, nothing fancy to write home about, but i was pleasantly surprised on a few items and i'm far from being a uniqlo fan... just my 2c

no i didnt see them but its on the french website so maybe on 2nd drop?

went by paris flagship, mad chill vibes there, every sizing left... was rather impressed with overall collection and quality. picked up the burgundy cotton parka, by far my favorite item and a couple t's...passed on the rider jacket, just couldn't convinced myself to buy pleather but it's pretty cool. also some ill gyakusou type light jackets...

i agree with cheap, lvc is a fashion brand first and foremost, they aren't really a serious repro company like the japanese, despite what the marketing would have you believe... obviously levi's has a very strong heritage and archive and they duly exploit that with lvc, but they also take some liberties in order to make certain stuff more wearable and relevant to current times. i've got the example of a OG tab twill 50's workshirt i scored recently, the exact original of the current tab twill repro lvc has re-issued this year, which i also happen to have picked up. at first glance the 2 shirts appear fairly identical, all the details and stitching at the right place but the cut of the lvc repro has been completely modernized, torso slimmed up, arms are much longer, pockets re-sized..etc etc the raw denim is probably the most accurate of the line yet obviously blatant inaccuracies occur which i am sure are intentional...it is kind of a bummer they take these liberties but unless you're willing to hunt down / pay up for the OGs its still the best we can get, so its kind of take it or leave it..

got mine, located in France.

good work.

round #3 any time soon?

damn im in paris and still havent received mine ???

i would rather see raf go to ysl and hedi take back dior homme & femme ...

^ yea like i said the lvc 501z are really slim, more so my 505's that i find are even roomier than my 66's (then again i did oversize the 505s) ... now speaking of slim i tried on the new 605 orange tabs the other day, skin tight especially on the leg opening... that being said there was something strangely appealing to them, especially the super flecky denim...

quick question to the levi's expert round here.

ok, there is the 501 on which they put on a zipper in the '50s and called it 501 zxx which they then renamed 502 later, right?

but basically the cut of the 502 was close/same to the 501?

and there is there is the 505, also with a zipper but slimmer than the 501, correct?

my main interest is about the 502 here.

the 501z/502 is [supposedly] a 1954 model, it's probably the slimmest 501 from LVC, actually i think they did right in changing the model name to 502 because the cut although carrot shape is significantly different than any 50's 501s..

the 505 is as it names implies not a 501 model either, the cut isn't as slim although if you undersize it may very well be. the LVC repro is from 1967, so its more along the lines of the 1966 501, yet different.. i've really come to love this model more and more, notably for the fact that since sanforized i can wear mine raw which is a rare pleasure in lvc world

not at all that expensive for deadstock vintage selvedge, if those were my size i'd grab them immediately, rip those tags off and prance around all day in them you can be sure of that lol

edit: btw whatever happened to that dude that got the 50's deadstock for like 100 euros off ebay de?

bump

yea can't help but feel disappointed after the uber-strong fw 11... also no visible trickers / mackintosh collab =

wow just wow..congrats jyoni that is one glorious pair of 44's, the fade, contrast, repairs.. you can tell a lot of love and labour went into those! it's actually making me feel bad about the pair i'm selling cuz that is one beautiful aging denim, but if anything this contest has motivated me to focus more on one pair (i currently have 8 lvc's in various stages)... bravo to all of you

@satchelbmoore: beware you or your gf might get yourselves in a little trouble if you inadvertently adopt the full-on OG skinhead look LOL.. that being said there are definitely some strong aesthetics within that movement that i myself incorporate in my daily wear (barracudas, ma-1s,1460s, sta-prest, 505's..) i just make sure to not wear them all together! i suggest checking out the fantastic "This is England" movie if you are not too familiar with the original skinhead movement originating from the UK (which to me has been kinda ruined by boneheads across the world..which the film touches upon)

about the 54z, i think you nailed it on the head.. it's definitely a good lvc initiation model, it was my first LVC coming from APCs (which i now have all donated to the gf). but they are now my least favorite pair, too modern or something!

BiG measures added!

bump

price drop

still new

still unworn

Bought these less than a week ago. They are new old-stock pre-2009. Raw denim. Made in USA.

They have the beautiful pinkish arcuates, green herringbone pockets without logo, 4170 top button, and come with a cloth tote and a lvc hard cover book titled "evolution of the jean". one hot soak, tried once, never worn outdoors. no fade, no creases. tag size 34x34.

post soak BiG measurements:

waist: 34"

inseam: 32.5"

front rise: 12.5"

back rise: 16.5

upper thigh: 11"

knee: 8.8"

leg opening: 8.6" (22cm)

asking 110 euros + shipping from paris, france

pm or e-mail: [email protected]

^^^ sorry angle is skewed cuz picture taken from below

edit: just realized these pics really don't do these beauty's justice !! (indoor light, crappy iso..etc)

well speaking of non latest lvc, i ended up keeping the pair of pre-2009 44's i found last week hoping shrink to fit would be ok, but looks like i might need a belt so i think i'll be letting them go… these are new old stock pair, they have the beautiful pink arcuates, green herringbone pockets with no stamped logo, 4170 top button, and come with a cloth tote and a lvc hard cover book titled "evolution of the jean". one hot soak, never worn outdoors. tag size 34x34. post-soak measuring is 34" waist & 32.5" inseam. they'll be in supermarket soon with pics, but you can pm me now for a super great bargain!

http://supertalk.superfuture.com/index.php?/topic/131486-fs-levis-lvc-1944-s501xx-34x34/

welcome on board, what was the original measured size do you know?

thanks i think i'll hop back there asap..

you mean ss12 i think ^^

speaking of 44's, i just got myself a pair today that i found on sale locally for roughly the same price as on lncc, but old stock models with the beautiful pink arcuates however i was kind of torn in between sizes and couldn't measure them until i got home just now, so i ended getting 34x34, and the waist measures 36" !! do you guys reckon hot wash will shrink them down to 34" (my waist size) ? or should i return them for 33x34 which should measure 35" ???

Not sure why this is being viewed with doom and gloom. XX is Levi's premium line. Levi's is based in the US. A large part of the LVC line is made in the US. I dunno.... makes sense to have XX headquartered on the US than on the other side of the planet. Also makes sense that if you'e going to make an investment in having a premium line, you may as well actually let people know it exists and sell some clothes. Hell, I'm into LVC and I wasn't aware of 80% of their current line until they finally got around to putting a website up. I think the raw denim part of LVC at least is pretty well established, and I don't see these changes effecting it.

Fyi, here is what Maurizio had to say a couple months ago about his vision for LVC:

Now that the company is changing, we are developing very interesting ideas. We are no longer divided by regions: Asia, Europe, the Americas. Today Levi’s® is one global company with the creative center rooted in San Francisco. For Levi’s® XX it’s a little different as we operate as an independent global division that is based in Amsterdam. It’s interesting because five or even ten years ago, Levi’s® was not ready to commit to something like this. It’s a big moment in the history of the brand.

[…]

Global means a lot of local together. I think “big†is nothing more than a lot of “small†together. I believe the mission we have for the Levi’s® XX XX division is to be under-distributed everywhere in the world. All as long as we can pay the rent, hire more people and create interesting products. We need to be bigger. How big? I don’t know. The objective of a premium brand is to be a little difficult to find, a little special in the world, although special doesn’t mean much anymore. I believe that less is more; a lot of less could be big. We don’t have to utilize the traditional channels, advertising, marketing or big flagship stores. At Levi’s® XX, we can’t afford it.

I'm personally saddened by Levi's change of heart. They've really pulled a 180 and i'm sure that's why maurizio left: I know for a fact that LVC is about to be carried here in France exclusively at the new mega flagship Levi's store on Champs-Elysee, alongside Zara, Gap and H&M . Yea, it's gonna be much easier to find than the tiny shops in paris that carry it today, but that also means fighting my way through the hordes of silly tourists that plague that zone & dealing with unhelpful staff, standing in line etc.. not to mention having douchebags now wearing LVC.. call me a snob but I agree with Maurizio that a premium brand should be a little special, and should have it's own space wether it's in their design offices or the shop itself. Merging the premium brand into the main one seems like a downgrade any way you look at it.

I'm also much less optimistic on quality and even design development. Up until now LVC wasn't very profitable for Levi's, it was kind of a pet project that kept the heritage image and also helped the brand remain in the upmarket segment. Maurizio and the Amsterdam bureau had full autonomy, that probably won't be the case now, with Levi's HQ closely supervising things. Also on a side note, if you look at RRL, one of the main reasons they are so profitable is because 90% of their clothing is made in china, iIsincerely hope LVC isn't going that route ( i've already noticed at least 2 items this season MIC )

from what i hear the whole amsterdam operation is shutting down and moving back to HQ in SF (with new management obviously)... hopefully the transition will be smooth but there are so many ways that this might fuck things up...