Established in 1989, our Levi’s® Archives houses a valuable collection of garments, catalogs, advertisements, and artifacts from all over the world. It holds over 135,000 digital assets that chronicle the stories of people who have shaped culture wearing denim. Our company history is preserved by weaving together the past with the present.
“Levi Strauss & Co. has a rich history, [but] before the Archives were created, all we had to validate the authenticity of our brand and heritage was word-of-mouth anecdotes,” said former Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Bob Haas, who founded the Archives in 1989. In 2015 Tracey Panek, Levi Strauss and Co. Historian and Archives Director brought the Archives into the digital age with the introduction of the Virtual Vault.
INSIDE THE ARCHIVES
Inside the space, you’ll discover a wealth of materials that tell the stories of real people and how they lived in Levi’s®. Like a 1951 photo of Bing Crosby in the denim tuxedo jacket that was a gift from Levi Strauss, as well as the actual jacket. You’ll find an array of photographs that span the late 1800s in San Francisco to the present day. Historical photos of seamstresses sewing denim at the San Francisco headquarters back in the roaring 1920s.
The Archives team is dedicated to the search and restoration of artifacts from all over the world, and they’ve preserved our history and legacy by weaving the past with the present.
THE VIRTUAL TOUR
Take a virtual tour of the space which dons blue paint, inspired by the famous blue fireproof safe. The one that holds the oldest pair of surviving Levi’s® dating back to the 1800s.
Check out this behind-the-scenes tour and explore the Archives with Tracey Panek, the Archives Director, as she highlights a few colorful and influential artifacts of Levi’s® history.
