February 26, 2009
Camisa vaquera
Levi's is the first clothing brand that managed to awaken an imperious need to own one of its garments in my pre-adolescence. I remember that at that time it was THE jeans brand, and the 501 red tab model was the most coveted item in the schoolyard. They also had a very well-orchestrated brand strategy whereby an orange-tab one was cool, but not as cool as the red-tab one. So they sold you the same product at different prices depending on the color of the tab. That's the work of marketing geniuses.
That's why a smile came to my face when I saw that they, Levi's, would be the first to debut the advertising banner.
Another fond memory I have of this brand was the first gift my siblings gave me on their own, without my parents' help: a white cotton Levi's t-shirt covered with words on the chest and back (back then, branding and looking like a human billboard was all the rage) that read something like "Proudly worn by...movie stars, singers, prospectors...and now by ME." Again, masterful brand management to convince people to be human advertisements for them, and even pay for it. Very similar to what luxury brands do today, but they did it decades ago and in a mid-range segment.
I don't understand what happened later and how they lost their hegemony to other brands that focused on selling sex, glitter, and speed, compared to Levi's wholesome, Californian, and good-guy style. Well, I guess times change. Now they are launching a campaign with Cat Power at the helm, whom I know for being a regular in the musical setting of Chanel fashion shows, since the Kaiser adores her.
So in their honor, as inventors of the quintessential fabric of our contemporary era and marketing visionaries, today we dedicate the post to a denim shirt. In different versions, more informal, less so, for boys, for girls...but versatile as only denim can be.
With corduroy:
With a suit:
With leather:
