Levi's gets nostalgic in new Jakarta concept store

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): Common denominators across continents are hard to come by. Information technology is narrowing the global divide, but it is still difference, not semblance, that distinguishes nations.

But some habits are near universal. We eat, we sleep, we work, we avoid work. And we wear jeans.

From Seattle to Seoul, Lima to Lagos, jeans comprise the staple uniform of the "modernizing" world. You can climb the Himalayas and tread through the Amazon in search of exotica -- and may just find it -- but you'll just as likely find youth dressed in denim. Park Avenue socialites shop for diamonds before lunch, but they'll drive to their mansions in the Hamptons in tattered Levi's. Jeans are ubiquitous and egalitarian -- if it was food, it'd be butter.

The label doesn't always matter. Denim trends come and go, their passing ushering in socio-economic changes.

Remember a teenage Brooke Shields cooing "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins"? Skintight designer jeans -- obscenely priced and breathing-impairing -- were post-recession, mid- cocaine, pre-AIDS. Now these come-hither Sassoons and Jordaches hide in the closet below the clothes hangers which helped zip them up, sharing the space with all the vulgar accessories required of the Greed-is-Good era.

That's if there's enough space next to all the stonewashed, acid-wash, and fancily shredded denims leftover from the late 1980s. The environment was showing wear and tear, so why not your jeans too? Some paraded their slashes and stains like war wounds, as if to say this rip was from that time I climbed the Berlin Wall in protest at communism. For the right price, you too can have rebellion etched in your back pocket.

Since then, those old guard Levi's have reclaimed their gilded place in denim aristocracy. "We are the original American jeans. A lot of people may copy us but they can't beat us. History will tell you that," said Jake Centenera, president director of Levi Strauss Indonesia. Crunching the numbers prove him right. In 1996, Levi's sales totaled US$7.1 billion.

Indeed, the 501, created in 1873 by German immigrant Levi Strauss, was the prototype to the ensuing denim-mania. Strauss fashioned the blue-collar workwear from fabric originating from the French town of De Nimes (hence the name denim).

Now, the fashion merry-go-round has made possible Levi's renaissance. As designers pillaged second-hand shops for inspiration, vintage Levi's -- light, normal, or dark, but always in good condition -- became the barometer of hip. The perfect pair of Levi's became so sought after that some pairs cost as much as new ones, if not more. The then-booming Japanese market was especially Levi's mad -- they looted Salvation Army shops across the U.S. in search of old 501s, which they then resold in Japan for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.

So what's the fascination with, essentially, a five-pocket pant? "If they fit right, they can make your bum look really good," said Yanti, a 25-year-old student who collects vintage Levi's. But why buy second-hand? "New ones are stiff and haven't been stretched in all the right places. If you buy a pair once worn by someone with your same body shape, then you don't have to spend years getting the right fit," she said.

Yanti mostly wears 501s, claiming that the lower-waisted button-fly makes her stomach feel less constricted. Indeed, the 501 is the most celebrated of Levi's, partly because it was the first jeans model, partly due to the boyish, narrow silhouette.

In fact, some women -- albeit not those with voluptuous figures -- will go even further and buy boys' 501s for a tighter fit, or, better yet, borrow their boyfriends' for more room.

"I love wearing men's jeans. When they're really big that you have to wear a belt, people always ask whose jeans they are. They always catch attention," Yanti said with a sly smile.

Nostalgic showroom

Now Levi's is devising another way of catching attention. Levi Strauss & Co. recently opened its latest concept store in Plaza Senayan, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It's called the Original Levi's Store (OLS), and aims to showcase Levi's legacy.

The first OLS, full of old photos and posters, opened in Sheffield, U.K., last year, and others have since spread all over Europe. That opening coincided with the clout of workwear made popular by the hip hop community. Street cred today is increasingly defined by previously industrial attire: Caterpillar boots on your feet, Cartthart jacket on your back, dark Levi's round your waist.

And it's the details that count. A typical fashion spread in hip magazine The Face documents the crucial difference in weights and sturdiness between various makes of denim. Chic icons used to choose jeans for comfort; now they buy according to stiffness. Levi's has gone full circle and returned to its original concept as sturdy workwear. Its new range of jeans are made from "extra tough" denim made in the U.S.

The company is very aware of fashion's direction, and is capitalizing on the vintage mood. "Yes, we're moving back to the old look," Centenera said. "But the way we merchandise it is totally new. Everything in the store is crisp, clean."

Crisp, clean -- as opposed to old and dusty? Centenera realizes the marketing hook of the heritage look, but says that the vintage craze owes a lot of Levi's. "It relates back to the original product, which has a lot of history around it," he said.

And Levi's is making sure everyone remembers. The new oak- paneled store is an archive of denim lore. "We want to maximize the heritage and evolution of the brand," said Centenera. "That's why we have lots and lots of old memorabilia."

Yet the best part of the store is not the nostalgic prints, but rather the interactive kiosk at the back of the store. Using top-notch Internet technology, consumers can click on to learn about Levi's production, or how a particular style would fit. It also runs its series of award-winning commercials, as well as video and magazine clips. Levi's may be stocking heritage on the shelves, but it's the future that will draw in crowds.