Levi’s roots in making men’s jeans go back a very long time, back to 1853 when Levi Strauss moved to California to open up a general ‘dry goods’ store. This was in the time of the great Californian Gold Rush, as well as the time of the American Old West (or “Wild West” as it is affectionately known today).

Strauss would regularly sell patches of hemp and denim material for repairs. These were usually just temporary quick-fix jobs, which Levi did not feel was a appropriate match to the standard of what his shop was about. He put together an idea – a method to stop the jean material from tearing in the first place, a way to strengthen all of the seams and joins so that they would not need a repair. This was the patented Levis Rivet, the little metallic stud or disc found in the weaker parts of the jeans.

Around 2001, Levi Strauss & Co acquired the oldest known pair of Levi’s denim jeans still available from eBay for $46,500. This particular pair of jeans had been made in the 1880’s, and was named on the order forms as “Levi’s XX”. This XX was a shorter form for ‘Extra Extra Strong’, a sign of the use of denim entirely as working clothes in that time. The XX style eventually turned into the Levi’s 501s, that have been in continuous production to this day.

In honor of those jeans (which in turn, aside from the expected wear and tear, were in completely wearable condition) Levis have now released the XX name. Levis XX is actually an integral part of the Levis Vintage brand, itself a renewal of Levi’s history. The XX jeans follow the same principles as the original copies, there're tough, well-built, good looking and ‘Extra Extra Strong’. View more


Levis Vintage