Levi's gets nostalgic in new Jakarta concept store

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.