Levi’s Wants To Help You Breathe Fresh Life Into Your Favourite Jeans

“Love what you wear and live with it longer,” says Richard Hurren, vice president of retail for Levi’s Europe. He’s referring to the denim brand’s latest sustainable initiative, Levi’s by Levi’s, which encourages customers to breathe new life into old pairs of jeans.

The project’s key focuses can be summed up in three Rs: repair, reimagine and recycle. To “repair”, the brand is inviting shoppers to upcycle their pre-loved denim with the help of tailors and the experts on hand at the Levi’s Haus concept store in Soho. The process of customisation involves patchwork and stitching and requires little energy – meaning jeans are given a fresh spin without further damage to the environment. 

On “reimagine”, Levi’s partnered with Indigowares on a well-crafted collection of 501 signature styles created using organic indigo dye and dip-dye or Shibori techniques. The best part? Every piece is one of a kind.

The brand’s final strategy, “recycle”, repurposed donations from the Levi’s community, along with its own store of returns and faulty items, into a range of new accessories. Tote bags, bucket hats and bum bags have been produced in collaboration with the Sew and Support vocational training programme, which was founded by the Worker Well Trust in Tower Hamlets, a charity that helps people struggling with mental health issues.

It’s no secret that the manufacture of denim has a destructive impact on the planet – according to Fashion Revolution, making just one pair of jeans uses around 9,500 litres of water. Through innovative new techniques, a dedicated sustainable focus and projects like Levi’s by Levi’s, brands are taking note – and shoppers are being urged to think differently about how they consume.