Levi’s® Vintage Clothing reproduces the fits, fabrics and details of bygone eras. Our source material is our own archive, and our inspiration is the hardworking men and women that the Levi’s® Brand has equipped for the last 150 years. Through our seasonal collections, iconic reissues and special editions, we relive our treasured history and offer timeless products to discerning connoisseurs that are as obsessed with it as we are.

In 1901, the license plate made its debut, a famous trumpeter was born, a man crossed the Atlantic in a box and the fifth pocket was added to 501® Jeans. Many assume this to be the coin pocket, but no—the fifth pocket is the left back pocket, half of the now-iconic Levi’s® rear view. “Jeans,” as we know them today. A year later, Levi Strauss died at 73 in California (just five years before The Great San Francisco Earthquake that devastated his adopted city). Without this final creative act, 501® jeans might never have existed.

To celebrate Levi’s® Vintage Clothing’s historic Shrink-to-Fit™ fabrics being produced in Japan, we made 800 hand-numbered pairs of our 1901 Japan 501® jeans. They're made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim, and feature every single archival detail—back leather patch, rivets, packaging and even the stamping on the buttons—translated into Japanese. ​​

• An archival reproduction of 1901 501® jeans
• Features two back pockets with exposed rivets
• With a center back cinch and suspender buttons
• A “Two Horse” leather patch
• Finished with a crotch rivet
• These jeans are limited edition: only 800 were crafted
• Made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim
• Complete with a back leather patch, rivets, packaging and the stamping on the buttons all translated into Japanese