“1873” or “First Blue Jean”

In 2001, and 2008, LVC introduced a reissue made of attractive, streaky, natural indigo denim from Kurabo. Although they supposedly represent an 1873 model, I believe they're inaccurate - they should have, for instance, a single line of stitching at the yoke. They also feature a patch which mentions a patent revision in 1875. These natural indigo jeans have retailed between £195 and £300. For that price, I'd prefer a more painstaking replica.

If LVC correct these apparent errors, these would be great jeans. I suggest you buy these actual waist size, and go out logging in them. If you can’t find any logs, scrub the bathroom floor in them.

These repros are beautifully-constructed, with lovely detailing on the stitching, for instance. But they should have simpler, more primitive stitching at the yoke to be accurate, hence they’re more a generic than an accurate representation. A shame because the denim itself is gorgeous.

This is a version from around 2001 - mine were oversized, I boil-washed to try and shrink them, and they came out horribly bland (and hardly shrank at all). But I think this denim could age beautifully, if you give them only a quick initial soak and wear them as long as you can bear before washing.

501 model guide • 1880 Nevada •  1880 XX • ‘First Blue Jean’ • 1890  • 1901 • 1915 • 1922 201 • 1933  • 1937 • 1944 • 1947 • 1955 • 1966 • 1978 •