Coming to terms with the fact that today's women find themselves comfortable in yoga pants or athleisure than a pair of denims, Levi's has been working hard to create a yoga-pant like feel in their line of denims. Finally, the brand introduced the new women's line ‘Lot 700’, at an event in Manhattan's clubby Meatpacking District. James Curleigh, Levi's President expects the new range to boost wholesale prices over the next three years. And Macy's has already doubled the amount of space dedicated for this brand at its flagship in Manhattan as well as stores across the US.
Levi Strauss, which invented the first pair of blue jeans 141 years ago, was among the jean makers that acknowledged that their business was hurt by the ‘athleisure’ trend.
Wooing the yoga-pant generation
Levi’s knows that people simply love their denim. While the trend cycle in this category has witnessed several changes what remains intact is people’s love for the pair of jeans. However, with fit becoming an important factor for today’s fitness conscious young generation, products like yoga pants and brand offering them such as Lululemon - are surely taking over the success of denims and denim brands.
As per market research firm NPD Group while sales of the iconic blue jeans fell six per cent during 2013 in the US, after decades of almost steady growth, yoga pants and other ‘active wear’ showed a seven per cent rise, with people showing preference to yoga pants and leggings over traditional denim. Interestingly, the trend is mostly being driven by women. Sales of women's jeans in the US fell seven per cent in that period.
Taking note of this big change, Bart Sights, Levi Strauss’s Senior Director for technical innovation, along with his team has been constantly working on achieving the desired effect with denim fabric at Levi’s research and development lab at the foot of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. Sights has been putting in effort to provide the fabric just the right amount of stretch, at the right places, while making sure that they don’t stop looking like jeans.
R&D to satisfy women, drive sales
The new technique, Sights is working on is called contouring. Sights uses lasers to remove the top layer of indigo, highlighting the centre of the leg so the inner and outer thighs appear to recede into the background, helping the leg look slimmer. The whisker patterns on the thighs are applied in a way that draws the eye away from the edge of the hips, while chevrons run along the legs to give an elongated impression. The aim is not to create yoga denim but to make jeans that are more comfortable, while retaining their 19th century essence.
The core of the newly created line is called Lot 700 that features the retro ‘Two Horse’ leather logo patch on the rear waistband and larger back pockets. Another style, Lot 300, uses a more girdle-like design for an exclusive shaping effect and another style, the 501ct can be worn in a looser fit. The skinny and midrise jeans with additional soft and stretchy material are getting a thumbs-up by women customers but there still is a long way to go before they once again give up leisurely yoga-pant styles to slip into a pair of Levi’s…
