This September, the
Levi's brand is partnering with celebrated emerging men's fashion designer Billy Reid to unveil a limited-edition, high-end collection that couples the denim leader with Reid's Southern-bred approach to masculine design.
Hand-crafted in the USA, the resulting Levi's Workwear by Billy Reid assortment showcases the Levi's brand's own workwear roots, incorporating utilitarian, highly functional styles, with Reid's refined yet modern tailoring. The highly-anticipated range will be introduced through exclusive events held at the Bloomingdale's store at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City, along with Reid's namesake boutique in lower Manhattan. Both events will coincide with the second annual Fashion's Night Out shopping extravaganza in New York City on September 10.
"In terms of inspiration, our idea was to focus on the workwear and outdoor categories from the early days of the Levi's brand. We were able to work with some incredible people in the Levi's archives and found an old work apron from the turn of the century, complete with all its natural wear, tear and stains. It just really seemed to stand out," offers winning designer, Billy Reid on the collaborative process.
"The apron became a true muse and its influence is present in each piece of the collection. For example, the hunting jacket has a removable — and fully functioning — pocketed, work apron on the inside, providing an internal game pouch. And we then used it to design the tote bag, which was developed by folding the apron into a bag shape."
For the third consecutive year, the
Levi's brand has teamed with the winner of GQ's "Best New Menswear Designers in America" project to create a collaboratively-designed, exclusive collection that marries the winning designer's vision with Levi's denim and workwear heritage and the often-imitated, iconic Original 501 jean.
The highly-influential, New York-based menswear designer Billy Reid is the third annual recipient to be recognized through this competition which celebrates the groundbreaking work of up-and-coming American menswear
fashion designers. The "Best New Menswear Designers in America" was founded by GQ in conjunction with The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2008.
"The idea was to take a specific assortment of hunting styles from our archives and to re-imagine and reconstruct them for the gamesman of today," said Carl Chiara, director of
Men's and Women's Brand Concepts for the Levi's Brand, the Americas. "Each piece in the collection retains its original purpose but they become completely modern, not only through the precise tailoring and fit, but also through the choice of fabrics and finishing techniques we elected to use."
"We are always on the lookout for new and talented upcoming designers to add to our men's assortment, so we are thrilled to be a partner yet again in the Best New Designer in America program,"says Kevin Harter, Bloomingdale's Vice President of Men's Fashion Direction. "And as one of the first upscale retailers to carry the Billy Reid collection, we are excited to bring yet another facet of his design to his growing fan base here at Bloomingdale's."
Raised in Amite, Louisiana, just south of the Mississippi line, Reid is one of the most celebrated, emerging stars in American men's apparel design today and is known for an aesthetic steeped in Southern charm. Currently designing out of his headquarters in Florence, Alabama, Reid marries a rugged yet dapper sensibility with artisanal, time-tested construction techniques, favoring fabrics with a lived-in yet refined hand. As winner of GQ's & CFDA's project, Reid was invited to visit and tour the extensive - and otherwise private - Levi's archives, located in the blue-jean-inventor's global headquarters in San Francisco.
Using Levi's museum-like, apparel archive as a starting point, Reid teamed with Carl Chiara and the Levi's design team to develop a workwear-focused range that speaks to the denim-leader's storied, highly practical origins, while injecting it with Reid's own laid-back, casual elegance.
The Levi's Workwear by Billy Reid collection consists of a tightly-edited assortment of ten menswear styles. Among these, the cotton jersey, crewneck pieces feature an exclusive Calabama graphic, a play on the mingling of aesthetics between the denim-leader's California-based headquarters and Alabama, the state Reid calls home. Beautifully-crafted, the collection consists of:
• Heavy Canvas "Apron" Tool Bag
• Re-conceptualized Archival, Rigid Selvedge, 501 Jean
• Sun-bleached Red Sweatshirt with custom Calabama graphic
• Sun-bleached Green Sweatshirt with custom Calabama graphic
• Sun-bleached Red Cotton Crew T-shirt with custom Calabama graphic
• Rinsed, Dark Indigo Denim Woven Button-front shirt
• Heavy Black Wool Trucker Jacket
• Heavily Distressed Twill Hunting Coat with Detachable Canvas Apron
• White, Washed Cotton Oxford Woven Button-front shirt
• Heavily Distressed 505 Straight Fit Work Pant
The highly-collectible Levi's Workwear by Billy Reid collection will be carried at Billy Reid stores in Texas — Houston and Dallas — New York City; Nashville, Tennessee; Florence, Alabama; and Charleston, South Carolina. It will also be sold in Bloomingdale's stores in: New York — 59th Street, Soho and Roosevelt Field — Aventura, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Diego and Costa Mesa in California; Chevy Chase, Maryland; Short Hills, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia; and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
