Tag: Stylist

There’s something incredibly reliable about Levi’s 501 jean. A style that’s been around for over a century, it’s pretty much been rendered in every which way—in skinny fits, as shorts, in all washes in the denim rainbow—and worn by pretty much everyone, from you and your friends to celebrities. And so, every May, the company celebrates its signature style on the day the patent was issued, dubbing the 20th 501 Day. This year, it’s marking the occasion with a supremely cool collaboration, courtesy of one of the most renowned (and, again, supremely cool) stylists in the game: Karla Welch and her fashion brand, x karla.

“I didn’t want to revamp the 501 so much as like not fuck it up, to be honest,” Welch tells Glamour of Levi’s x karla, a 9-piece capsule collection that launches on May 20. “For me, it’s kind of a like love letter to America and the idea of iconic pieces, which to me was the white T-shirt [through Hanes x karla and now the blue jean.” The stylist was drawn to this because of the customization aspect: The concept was to take existing patterns and styles and “work within a box, take stuff apart, and put it back together,” she explains. “I didn’t want to get too fussy, and I wanted the fit to be perfect—it’s kind of like wear it your own way. There’s restraint, and then there’s freedom.”

“501 is the jean that started it all,” Jennifer Sey, CMO of Levi Strauss & Co., says. “It’s the ultimate customizable product: Everyone wears it in their own way, and it conforms to fit your body over time like no other jean,” she continues. “You can wear it sized up, sized down, ripped, patched, clean and rigid. The 501 doesn’t tell you how to wear it. It’s all about how you express your personal style. That’s a timeless idea.”

Welch remembers her first 501s fondly: “I was thirteen, and I stole them from my 17-year-old brother. They were way too big, and I rolled and cuffed the waist over. Oh my god, they were so cool. It was like a game-changer, for some reason—in my little small town, nobody was like [thinking of] a baggy jean on me. I felt like from another place. It was so powerful. That’s what a good piece of clothing—or a really personal piece—will do. I wish I still had them.”

When thinking about what makes a fashion item iconic, Welch goes back to this concept of “the democracy of clothing”: “Everybody wears a white T-shirt and everybody wears a pair of jeans,” she explains. “I’m interested in that as an idea—it’s attainable, it can be super high-fashion, but it can also be workwear.” When it comes to denim, specifically, there’s also the deeply personal aspect of how one wears it in—”that’s why you’ll see [in Levi’s x karla] the blues are all the exact same,” she says. “I want you to wear it in yourself. You have to age your stuff yourself, and you age it by wearing and [breaking] them in.”

Collaborations like the one with x karla are “the embodiment of what the Levi’s brand stands for, what it has always stood for—individual self-expression,” Sey explains. “Getting a fresh take on our 501, the original jeans, from such an influential stylist like Karla contributes to keeping it modern and fresh… [Welch] really captures the essence of a person in how she styles them. She brings out each artist’s unique personality and unique personal style, which is the entire spirit of the 501.”

To launch this project, Levi’s enlisted a group of powerful women—many of which are Welch’s clients—to participate in a portrait series: Tracee Ellis Ross, Sarah Paulson, SZA, among many others. “I called all my friends, and they all showed up,” says the stylist. “I have an affinity for super-strong females, and every single person in this lookbook and in the campaign is someone I have a personal connection to.”

There’s a charitable aspect to this project, too, that Welch notes was a draw for some of the portrait participants: As part of this collaboration, Levi’s will be making a donation to the Everytown for Gun Safety support fund. The brand isn’t disclosing the exact amount, but, according to Sey, “it will be a flat donation that exceeds total US profit.”

“I work in a very superficial—although very fun—business, and when I started x Karla I wanted to think about how I could connect and leverage [it] for social good,” explains Welch. “I realized: Oh, I zip up dresses, but what I can do is work with all my partners at doing something that’s meaningful, beyond just good conscious commerce.”

“We’re so inspired by the strength and outspokenness of the young people across the country who are leading a national conversation about gun safety,” Sey says of Everytown. “It’s an important conversation centered around the health and welfare of our kids and our communities. And the equal right to safety. We aren’t prescribing an answer—just supporting the conversation.”

To work with Levi’s on something that gives back to a cause she supports is “one of my proudest moments,” Welch notes. “It’s not a trend—this is what we can do. It’s really important for me [to use my] platform. I have these opportunities, and I have enough. But I’ve wanted to give back. That’s my goal with what I do.”

Check out a few pieces from the Levi’s x karla collection, ahead.

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