Vintage Repros

[Maynard Friedman]

I didn’t necessarily want to start a new thread for this but I did anyway as it may have some interest .

Obviously repros have been around for a long time now and, I think, some items can be considered vintage in their own right. What old repro-style item you have? I’m thinking primarily jeans, jackets, shirts here, but perhaps there are other items of interest - and I know that some early models were not strict repros.

Vintage is slightly subjective and we may all have different views but my thinking (for this thread) is anything prior to 2000. I don’t want to be too exclusive though so anything on the cusp is welcome!

My oldest item is this pair of Levi’s Japan 503 BSXX natural indigo from August ‘91 - almost 34 years old!

[Dr_Heech]

@Maynard Friedman l have a pair of Bartack 1950s MIJ repros from 1994 (l think but could be '92?) - unfortunately no photo as they are over at Mrs_Heech's place in Saaff London.

Think the first repros were late 80s?

[julian-wolf]

Good topic. I don’t have exact dates for either of my pairs of MP-series Cane’s, but they’d be somewhere in the mid-‘80s to ‘92 range, and both seem like pretty thorough repros. Always on the hunt for more—my dream pair would be an appropriately sized MP-597 or MP-603.

[Double 0 Soul]

My wardrobe is probably 70% repro, 20% vintage and 10% new but out of that 70%.. i would say 90% of which would now be considered vintage in it's own right.

I'm not saying repros peaked in the 90s but i am a bit disalusioned with how relentless the repro game has become, i'd like the SC Collectables but i'm fooling myself if i think this will be it, we all know something else will be just around the corner..  it's just a never ending persuit

[aho]

Good timing, just saw these pop up:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHxsGl4vkcO/?img_index=1
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHvXgpEvKFY/?img_index=2

[beautiful_FrEaK]

My oldest items are several Denime Orizzonti era items without Orizzonti on the care tag, which makes them pre 1998.

[Double 0 Soul]

*Toyo Enterprises was previously called Kosho & Co, a fabric import / export company. During WW2 they were selling souvenirs to American soldiers, kimonos and such via a market stall.. Tailor Toyo was established to make souvenir jackets with a soldiers name embroidered, which they could take back home.

 

In 1965 Toyo Enterprises was established to supply western sized clothing to the US military bases across Japan.. they would make denim jeans upon request.

 

*source Double 0 on DB

 

 

Toyo became a domestic clothing manufacturer in 1975 after the end of the Vietnam war when all the troops fked off back home.. I'm not sure if they were making repros during this time, i expect not, based on the fact that i haven't found any.. Japan's love of Americana followed.. by the 1980s demand outstripped supply of the Levis left behind by American troops which laid the foundations for enterprising Japanese pickers to visit the US with empty suitcases, demand still outstripped supply so by the mid-80s Sugarcane was producing repros for the domestic market but i would love to know what repro jeans if any were produced in this 75 - 85 (pre MP) era..

 

In 1978, Hitoshi Tsujimoto was one of these^ pickers.. he took a road trip around the US collecting vintage jeans and sweatshirts which he sold around vintage markets under the name 'Nylon' (which would later become McCoys)  opening his first bricks n' mortar vintage store in the mid 80s.. this all helped lay the foundations for the golden era denimboom of the early 90s.. so when we consider the birth of the vintage repro, we need to be looking at the early-mid 80s

 

[Maynard Friedman]

I believe there were a number of Japanese brands producing ‘American style’ jeans pre-1980s (perhaps as far back as the 60s? - I’ll try to check my sources). These included Edwin and Canton. I think one of them used Peruvian cotton.

[Double 0 Soul]

Are we talking 'American style' or repro?

I'd say a repro from this era needs to be 501 patterned, selvedge denim, leather patch, red tab, arcs and such..

[Double 0 Soul]

I suppose.. the difference (as far as i see it).. American style denim pants were a practical, alternative to traditional dress, whereas a repro is an alternative to the, very limited in availability, vintage denim..  catering to the needs for the vintage Levi, Wrangler, Lee.. enthusiast.. rather than your average worker.

 

[Maynard Friedman]

Edwin have produced quite a range of jeans over the years and were my introduction to the repro world back in 2002 via their Waynesvilles from the now, sadly closed Interstate.

Their 505s (top) debuted in 1994 and were definitely a repro.

Their 4007s (below, year unknown) were a strange Levi’s/Wrangler hybrid, well Levi’s with Wrangler arcs. Basically the opposite of those 1947 Wranglers with Levi’s arcs!

[Maynard Friedman]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I suppose.. the difference (as far as i see it).. American style denim pants were a practical, alternative to traditional dress, whereas a repro is an alternative to the, very limited in availability, vintage denim..  catering to the needs for the vintage Levi, Wrangler, Lee.. enthusiast.. rather than your average worker.

 

Agreed, otherwise they’re just another pair of jeans.

[Double 0 Soul]

I've done a bit of detective work regarding those Edwin 4007s.. they're a womans bootcut and although there is zero info online, they do use a Talon zipper which is easier to date than the jeans (easier still if it was a pre-1950s jacket zipper) .. the zipper itself seems to have been in production from the mid 70s up to 1983.. It was used extensively on 1980s era Wrangler Big Ben, 1980s Dickies workwear up to and including 1990s Edwin made Lee Riders so i would hazard a guess that they date from the 1980s

 

[Maynard Friedman]

I’m in a generous mood so let’s extend the vintage invitation to anything over 20 years old. Post your repro pairs that date up to 2005!

[Dr_Heech]

^in that case here's my vintage Lvc. Bottom Nos pair are 1937 501XX (button stamp 643M) made in USA in 2004 - these are the pair l'm giving to my son. Top pair are 1955 501XX (button stamp 554) worn infrequently since purchasing back in 2003 from Cinch in Newburgh street.

 

 

[Dr_Heech]

And here is my vintage Levis Vintage Clothing items, as lvc was the abbreviation used from 2004 onwards. 

Top pair are 1955 501XX from 1996 and bottom pair are Nos 1920s 201's from 2000. This last pair are destined to be worn in the garden by me once my Csf 41's are trashed.