The Best Idea Yet - 👖 Levi's 501s: The World’s 1st Jeans | 6

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

What do Old West gold miners, biker gangs and Marilyn Monroe all have in common? The same pair of jeans…Invented by a down-on-his-luck immigrant tailor in the 1870s, this classic riveted pant launched a global denim market worth over $70B. How? By teaming up with Levi Strauss & Co., a Gold Rush-era startup that became the most popular clothing brand in America. (Fact: Levi’s won a popularity contest over Nike, Adidas, and Old Navy.) — And it all began with the 501s. Find out how the original “straight fit” jeans used the “cupholder effect” to drive demand, how a storytelling hack transformed an everyday product into a symbol of freedom…and why Levi’s 501s are the best idea yet.Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the best idea yet early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Nick, we had a funny Kramer family Christmas morning tradition. What was it, Jack? We all open gifts one brother at a time. And the rule was if you got clothing, you had to try it on before the next gift could be open. Well, that's tough. That's tough. Now, the most dreadful gift in this era was when you were gifted jeans. Can't imagine. Because you had to try them on in front of the whole

family and jeans are so challenging to get the right fit. I mean, Jack, full disclosure, I wouldn't have worked in your family because I've never worn a pair of jeans, man. That's right. You're such a khakis guy. You're chinos all the way. You know, you go stretch chinos. It's a pretty good vibe, Jack. There was one time you wore jeans. I don't really feel comfortable sharing it on the podcast, Jack. What if you insist? I'll share the story because they were my jeans. So it's 2012. Nick and I had just graduated from college. We were bumping to Avicii's levels every weekend.

It was like the song of our generation for a couple years. But Jack, when I got invited to that Avicii concert, I basically thought, how am I gonna fit in with all the Avicii fans? And the only way I knew how was wearing jeans. You figured surrounded by bumping EDM fans, dancing to DJs like Avicii, you need skinny jeans. You figured surrounded by bumping EDM fans, dancing to DJs like Avicii, you need skinny jeans. Yeah, I basically thought if I show up in khakis,

I'm not getting into the concert. And from what I understand, Jack, although I haven't been in this situation, you'd spend about twice as much time back then in the dressing room if you were trying on jeans instead of khakis. Who amongst us hasn't been burned by a clothing ad you swipe through on TikTok or Instagram?

You make an impulse buy only to find out that your new slim fits are basically made of paper. It could ruin an Avicii concert. But yetis, there is one pair of jeans that has been through all the ups and all the downs, literally, of the entire pants industry. One pair with a cult following because the fabrics followed your legs for your entire life. And this pair of jeans went viral over 150 years ago.

The Levi's 501. Yes! Not straight fit, not skinny fit, not slim fit. Original fit. Levi's 501s the best-selling five pocket jean of all time and they're the original going back over 150 years. And they're the original, going back over 150 years. Literally, they hold the original patent for riveted pants, which became known as blue jeans. Literally. Since then, the Levi's 501 has hugged the backsides of miners, of ranchers, of farmhands, of factory workers, and of Hollywood stars and starlets.

The story of 501 is also the story of Levi Strausenko, the company that built its fortune during the California Gold Rush of 1849. And incredibly, Levi's is still on top 170 years later. Jack, could you sprinkle on that context we discovered about the brand? A 2023 YouGov poll ranked Levi's the number one most popular clothing

and footwear brand in America. That's more popular than Hanes and more popular than Adidas. It's more popular than Nike. And today the global denim jeans market is valued at over 70 billion dollars. Levi's built that and they did it by leaning into the core features customers just couldn't live without. Features vital to a pair of 501s to this day. We're also gonna learn a little known fact about the Levi's 501s. Jack, you wanna drop a little spoiler here?

They weren't invented by Levi Strauss at all. No, that title actually falls to a little known entrepreneur from Latvia, but it's Strauss and Co. That takes these button fly beauties from old timey work pants to American icon. Jack, you might say that the Levi's 501s are the pants that have traveled through time.

Traveling pants? Yes. Sounds like the name of a great movie. Let's make it happen. Yetis and besties whip out a mirror because there are so many great angles to this story. It's gonna take us from the old west to the Hollywood Cowboys,

and from the fall of the Berlin Wall to Brad Pitt's abs, all 12 of them. Stick around to hear why Levi's 501 jeans is the best idea yet. From Wanderer and T-Boy, I'm Nick Martell. And I'm Jack Gravici Kramer. And this is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers that brought them to life.

I got that feeling again. Something familiar but new. We got it coming to you. I got that feeling again. They changed the game in one move. Here's how they book all over the line. Yeddies, it's May in San Francisco, and down on the waterfront, it's chilly. But the sun, it's just burned off the morning fog and sparkles off the churning bay. But there's no ferry building yet, and there's no blue bottle coffee yet either, because the year is 1853 and a 24-year-old Bavarian Jewish immigrant stands on the wooden planks

just outside his storefront. Yeah, Nick, there is also no sidewalk yet. The side of the streets is just a few two-by-fours between people's shoes and the mud. Well this man is watching with pride as his name is hung above the door in front of him. Levi Strauss. Back in the old country, Levi was born lobe. He came to America before he turns 18, and he goes right to work working for his older brothers in the wholesale dry goods business in New York City.

Now, besties, just as a heads up, that doesn't mean working the counter in some shop. It means peddling their wares house to house, on foot, first in New York City and then all the way down in Louisville, Kentucky. As he's making his way south, selling products as he goes, Levi would have to wash his socks in a stream at night and hang them on the bushes, hoping they're dry in the morning. If Levi's is a rags to riches story, this part is literally the rags. But now this man Levi, he's leaving New York City for San Francisco and he's arriving along with more than 30,000 newcomers because this town that had only a thousand people

in total just five years earlier is now flooded with people. There aren't even bridges connecting it to anything. But there's gold. Yes there is Jack. Starting in 1849, word gets out that California has gold and thousands and thousands of folks are rushing into the foothills of California with a pickaxe and a dream. But here's the funny thing, Yeddies. Levi? He's not here to pan for gold. These prospectors, they need clothes and they need boots and they need tools. And to Levi, this is an untapped market. So Strauss quickly becomes one of the most successful wholesalers in all of San Francisco. He's supplying all the little general stores and boom towns that have sprung up all over

the West with the materials needed to make everything from handkerchiefs to underwear, anything miners needed to survive. Well Jack, we have to talk about your pronunciation of handkerchiefs in a moment. But in the meantime, miners, ranchers, and pioneer families, pretty soon they're all wearing Levi Strauss's fabrics. And by the end of the Civil War, just eight years after he first arrived, Levi has sent about $4 million home to his family. Jack, could you whip out our inflation calculator and

tell us what that stands for in current money? That's over $72 million in today's money. Nick, that's a staggering amount. Huge! I didn't expect that. Remember, just a few years earlier, he was washing his socks in a stream. And what Levi is really doing here is actually a classic business concept that was born from this very experience. Levi isn't targeting the gold, he's targeting the gold miners. Because mining for gold is a risky business. Oh yeah. They may make a ton of money in the golden hills or they may find

nothing. But either way, Levi's is selling them something they need. So he's making money no matter what. This is called selling shovels to the gold rush. But while Levi can't seem to miss, there's this other entrepreneur who can't seem to catch a break. Besties, this next man's story has so many parallels with Levi's you'd think they were cut from the same cloth. His name? Jakub Jufas. He's also a young European Jewish immigrant and he arrives in 1854 from Riga, part of Russia that eventually becomes Latvia. He too anglicizes his name and Jakub Jufas becomes Jacob Davis. Just like Levi, Jacob dreams of getting rich by supplying goods to prospectors. But that's where the similarities end. Jacob becomes

a tailor, but he has trouble getting that business off the ground. So he invests in just a whole bunch of different endeavors, from breweries to coal mines to pork, but all of them end up cratering within six months. Unfortunately, what makes you a good tailor doesn't necessarily make you a good brewer. Or a good venture capitalist, Jack. Or a good coal miner. Yeah, it's kind of like what makes you good at building electric cars and rockets doesn't necessarily make you good at running a social media app But by 1870 40 year old Jacob has settled in Reno, Nevada with his wife and their six kids

And he's through with the breweries He's done with the pork industry and he's making a living off of sewing things that pioneers and settlers need we're talking tents We're talking wagon covers. We're talking horse blankets Jacob makes these things using this really strong off-white canvas material called duck cloth. Duck cloth, I like the name. And his supplier for that duck cloth. Yes, Jack. He's one Levi Strauss and co.

And after years of instability, the tailor is finally breaking even until one fateful night, one night that would go down as a milestone in casual fashion history. It's the holidays, but Jacob Davis, he's working. He's actually working in his tailor shop when suddenly out of nowhere there's this frantic knocking at the door. It's a woman who lives across the railroad tracks and her husband is sick with a little something called... Dropsy. Which honestly, Jack, is the most 1870 sounding disease in the world. Today, Dropsy is called edema. It's when there's fluid retention that can cause serious swelling in your body. It's a real problem for Jacob's neighbor.

Because even without the Dropsy, this labor is freaking huge. He's just a large man, Jack. And now he's sick. His legs are swollen. His wife can't even find a pair of pants that actually fit him. The poor guy is just sitting pantsless at his house. So his wife pleads with Jacob to make her husband a custom pair of trousers that meet two criteria.

Jack, what do we got? Number one, they've got to be worker tough because this guy's a miner. Number two, they've got to fit a gentleman of this man's size. So Jacob writes this down and he starts thinking about all those horse blankets and wagon covers that he's been making and, Jack, that is a whole lot of fabric right there. Jacob tells her to take his measurements. He charges her $3 to be paid in advance and he promises he'll have these new pants done before the new year. So Jacob takes a bolt of duck cloth and he starts stitching. When he's done,

he's made some of the sturdiest pants around for his big bone neighbor. And just then, a happy accident changes the future of fashion forever. Because Jacob's sitting there at his workbench, he's admiring his craftsmanship when he notices a few loose fasteners on the table specifically a fistful of copper rivets he usually uses these rivets to fasten straps onto the horse blankets but pants don't have straps so these rivets are just left over and that's when Jacob eyes the back pocket of his pants he's just sewn. He's like looking back there and he thinks, you know what, the exterior back pocket,

it's a feature of nearly all work pants at the time, but it is a well-known fact that these back pockets always guaranteed 100% will rip in the line of duty. So when this guy finds a handful of extra copper rivets on his table, he thinks to himself, I think I'm going to make something with this. By the gods of Calvin Klein, I think I got something here, Jack. Then he adds those rivets to those pockets, plus a bonus rivet on the groin, just to mess with us, which also tends to tear. So he delivers the pants to the pants-less man across the tracks. Before January's out,

he has four more orders for the same style as the big guy. Thick duck cloth fabric, riveted pockets. Then ten more the next month, then a dozen. Fast forward 18 months to 1872 and this humble tailor who was barely squeaking by has made over 200 pairs. These work pants are gaining some traction. Jack, to quote the great philosopher, Magatou, these pants so hot right now. Jacob is making them with a couple different fabrics, which he's sourcing directly from Levi Strauss. Some are that off-white duck cloth,

and others are from a darker, slightly thinner, but still sturdy material that you might recognize called denim. Denim! Now Jack, we should probably clarify that Jacob Davis did not invent denim, and neither did Levi Strauss. In fact, this denim fabric has actually been around since the late 1500s. Yeah, we're talking the Renaissance. This is a wild fact about denim that you can pull out of your pocket at your next dinner party. Jack, I feel like we should jump in T-boy style to this quickly. Denim fabric, where can we trace it to?

It can be traced back to two European cities, Genoa, Italy, and Nîmes, France. Right. So the word denim probably comes from the French phrase denim. And the word jeans probably comes from the word jean, which is how you say genoa in French. That's right besties, America's favorite jeans and denim actually got named after two European cities half a millennium ago. The Levi's won't actually use the word jeans for about another 70 years. We'll get to that in a bit. The reason workers are going crazy for Jacob's signature pants isn't the material,

it's those rivets. Now, yeti, this is actually a business strategy Jack and I talk about all the time. The cup holder effect. It's when one detail sells the entire product. For car buyers, cup holders, specifically their placement, their size and their quantity are a shockingly important factor in the entire car buying process.

Cup holders cost like nothing to produce, but they're so meaningful for the customer's opinion of the product. And that's exactly how customers are thinking about these rivets on these new pants. One small piece of metal that could save them from embarrassing rips and tears, and if a miner actually finds gold, he can now toss it in his back pocket without fear of the material giving way. So as these orders pour and Jacob Davis is starting to realize something, this could be his moment. These super strong work pants could be his ticket to success, but to capitalize on his invention, he's gonna need a little help. ticket to success. But to capitalize on his invention, he's gonna need a little help. Original sin on December 12th hosted by me Rick Campanelli enter at chfi.com

From student to avenging serial killer you never forget your first crime Dexter original sin streaming December 13th exclusively on Paramount Plus So it's 1872. Jacob Davis, that previously unlucky tailor, has just invented the riveted work pants, and they're becoming a minor sensation. Jacob wants to patent his work to protect himself from all the imitators he expects are coming and going to suck and copy his ideas. Good foresight. But we mentioned Jacob Davis is married. His wife's name is Anna.

And this poor woman, she stuck with Jacob during every move and every failure. Like the tobacco shop he invested in, the pork wholesaling gambit. Jack, I think there was a bowling alley. I can't remember exactly, but there was a lot of missed opportunities there. Well, Jacob, he dragged his whole poor family,

six kids and counting all over North America's Western frontier, chasing success. But for Mrs. Davis, there's no guarantee this whole rivet pants thing is going to pay off. And patents? That requires lawyers. And lawyers cost money. There's just no more money left for a third patent, much less the money to challenge any future violations in court.

But Jack, there is one other question here, right? It's capacity. Because Jacob's like still one guy running the whole operation, right, man? And his track record for growing a business is not great. But he has one idea that could help this company. His fabric supplier, Levi Strauss. Now, Levi's doesn't make finished clothes yet, or even the raw materials. They source the fabric from other manufacturers. But if anyone can figure out how to put together a functional riveted pants operation, Jacob figures it's Levi. So he writes Levi a letter, which is like the 1870 equivalent of DMing Mark Cuban.

Picture Levi now 43 years old in his newly built offices on Battery Street in San Francisco, which is not that far from where Levi's is still based today. He's sitting at his desk and he peers down at a crinkled letter postmarked from Reno, Nevada. It's from a pharmacist writing on behalf of a tailor named Jacob Davis. English isn't Jacob's first language, so he's asked the pharmacist to help him write a letter. That letter? It actually contains a check for $350 to pay the balance of Jacob's business account. See, he's been buying a whole ton of duck cloth and

denim from Levi's lately. So Jacob explains why and he describes his new rivet pants and how he just can't even make them fast enough. And the price that he's selling them for is $3 a pair for the duck cloth, $2.50 for the denim. Now, if $3 and 250 sounds low, $3 is actually close to a full day's wage for a laborer at the time. And it's almost four times the price of the current wholesale rate for other work pants.

So Nick, this new pants design is a profit pump. Huge potential here. And Jacob, he knows he's onto something. He actually mailed a couple samples of the pants to Levi. And Levi has to admit, they look damn good. So he reads down to the heart of the letter. Jacob wants Levi Strauss to feed two birds with one scone. He wants him to file a patent for him listing Jacob as the inventor and for that he'll give Levi Strauss and co half the rights to sell the product. Oh half the rights. Jack, how much is that patent going to set them back? 68 bucks. Okay so Levi Strauss is buying a 50 stake in these jeans for 68 dollars that is less than,800 today. What we're saying is Levi's got in on jeans at a $136 valuation.

Jack, as you're saying that, this literally sounds like a deal from Shark Tank. It's like partnering with Mr. Wonderful. Although I feel like Mr. Wonderful would not be a fan of the groin rivet. I feel like he's out for that one, allegedly. But again, he's getting a lot more than just the money to finally file a patent application. That's right, because he's also getting a partner, someone who has the infrastructure, the network, and the reach to grow this business fast. Levi Straus and co already supplies stores across North America. If Levi's can bring rivet pants to the masses, then the profit ceiling is going to be way higher than what

Jacob can pull off on his own. So on May 20th, 1873, the pair receives patent number 13921 for improvement in fastening pocket openings. And how similar are these 1873 pants to the Levi's 501 jeans we know today? Actually, Jack, shockingly similar. Like, besides the rivets, naturally, other things you might recognize on the jeans are a button fly and a little watch pocket. And Jack, there's also that gold stitching on the back pocket of jeans that makes a V. And it's called the arcuate stitching. It's actually a signature of Levi's to this day.

But honestly, I'm surprised it went with the button fly. Yes, maybe the least efficient feature of a pair to this day. But honestly, I'm surprised it went with the button fly. Yes. Maybe the least efficient feature of a pair of pants ever. This is actually reason number two why I don't wear jeans because in a bathroom situation, you don't want to waste time. It's a no-brainer. But Jack, I did get curious about this

and there's actually a good reason why jeans have those button flies, man. Why is it? Well, modern zippers actually weren't invented for like another 20 years. Ah. Which is a story for another pod. As for what's changed though, since the 1873 model,

the small differences are actually kind of fun. You know, the original jeans didn't have belt loops. And the reason why, Jack? Suspenders. Yeah. Oh, also these old jeans have only one back pocket, not two, and a little cinch at the back to adjust the waist size.

This is one of those things that as an adult, I'm jealous of toddlers for? Yes, Jack. Toddlers have adjustable waist pants, why can't we? That is totally fair fashion feedback. Or feed forward, if you know you know. But Nick, with the patent in hand, it's official. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis are in business. Jacob is selling his tailor shop to Strauss and Jacob Davis are in business. Jacob is selling his

tailor shop to Strauss and becomes production manager of their new line of rivet pants. And while Jacob is focused on manufacturing, Levi is thinking about branding. Because the imitators, they're coming. Yeah. And when someone copies your function, there's only one way to stand out. Now today we call them blue jeans, but in the late 1800s they were actually called, get this, waist overalls. That's right, W-A-I-S-T because they're pants and overalls because laborers wear them over all of their regular clothes. I'm trying to imagine the genuine song in those waist overalls. Jack, what about Apple bottom waste overalls? Or how about when Elton John says blue waste overalls, baby, LA lady.

But don't worry besties, Levi Strauss, he's going to get their branding down very, very soon because he has to. You see that patent that he and Jacob have worked so hard to secure, they only have it for 17 years. After that, patent protection expires. By 1890, the use of rivets in denim work pants, that's going to become public domain. So they have got to do something to differentiate their pants from the knockoffs ASAP. They need their Chanel C's or Louis Vuitton LV's or their Juicy Couture J.C.'s Yeti's Levi's.

They're going a little more literal though on this. They want people to think of their waist overalls as the sturdiest, strongest brand around. So in 1886, his designers create a logo that can be printed on the leather patch on the back of every pair of Levi's. They call it the two horse patch. I've never actually looked at this patch before. Like I'm aware it's there, but I've never looked closely at it. There's a pair of jeans hooked up to two horses,

each pulling in different directions. There are also two horse drivers getting ready to whip the horses if they don't get going. So the horses are trying to tear the jeans in half. The caption on top says, it's no use, they can't be ripped. That is Levi's famous two horses logo. As more than a fun little New Yorker cartoon

on the back of your pants, it's actually a statement logo designed for a customer base that includes non-English speakers and folks who can't read. So you don't have to know that English caption in order to understand these are unrippable pants. Horses trying to draw and quarter a pair of pants is universal language. So Levi's, they become known as the Two Horse brand and they'll be called that well into the next century.

And all of this is being put to good use when their patent expires in 1890. And along with the two-horse logo, Levi's does something else that's going to help set them apart from all the copycats. Previously, they've been calling their waist overalls the XX, as in double extra strong. But in 1890, they start naming their products with numbers. Okay, that feels like an important development jack. Because at this point, Levi's is also making denim jackets and other clothes meant for Hard-manual labor all of them have rivets naturally and they want it to be easy for these customers to place orders for exactly

What they want and for Levi's to innovate on styles and cuts without confusing people So the lot number for their og waste overalls becomes 501 baby. 501. It's the 501. Between Jacob Davis's eye for tailoring and Levi Strauss's nose for marketing, the 501s they take off. In fact, Levi's become so synonymous with what we would call jeans that they'll one day have to trademark their own company name. Like how in the South all soda is referred to as Coke. Exactly, Jack. Levi's, it's the coca denim. Levi Strauss, he never marries or has children. So when he passes away in 1902, he leaves most of his company and his $6 million fortune to his nephews. $6 million 1902 is $215 million today.

Not too shabby. A lot of money. And Jacob Davis, he dies in 1908. So it's Levi's nephews and their descendants who run the company with steady hands for decades. Even in the face of competition from newcomer brands like Lee, Carhartt, and the Hudson Overall Company doesn't really ring a bell, Jack. You might know them as Wrangler. Ah. Levi's even

survives a total wipeout of their records and inventory in the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. But the big catalyst for Levi's isn't going to be a fashion trend, and it isn't going to be another gold rush, and it's's not even gonna be Flo Rida. It's gonna be the movies. Silent movies. Welcome, yetis, to 1914 Hollywood. One of the first popular genres in the silent film era is westerns and from this comes one of the very first movie stars ever, a tall drink of water named William S. Hart. And William Hart, he's actually a gene-wearing gunslinger, which kicks off this whole vision and idea of the denim-clad cowboy in the public consciousness. And this isn't just a movie thing.

Cowboys are definitely wearing 501s. Right, because Levi's, they aren't just for minors. They're the go-to for any kind of hard labor at the moment, thanks to their heavyweight material and, of course, those all-important copper rivets. You know what perfectly captures this? What Jack? Remember that famous photograph of the workers at Rockefeller Center eating lunch on that beam of iron? They're all wearing jeans. Fun fact though, you know what those guys building Rockefeller Center did not like about their jeans? What Jack? The rivet on the crotch. I'm uncomfortable thinking about it Jack, but you know, actually despite the complaints, Levi's actually doesn't get rid of the

crotch rivet or son of a stitch as they probably called it back then until the 1940s. It's actually a great story. Oh, this is so good. That's when Levi's president, Walter Haas, is on a fly fishing trip and he squats down a little too close to the campfire. The crotch rivet heats up and that rivet is gone a short time later. Give me a home where the buffalo roars. Now in Hollywood Yeti's The Rise of the Denim-Clad Cowboy, it's only getting started because an even more famous figure in Westerns is gonna rock some Levi 501s. Mr. John Wayne, step on down. When Johnny Dubbs stars in 1939's Stagecoach, he wears a pair of high cuffed Levi's 501s that help establish the pants as the silver screen cowboy uniform.

So these 501s, they're getting co-starring roles in Stagecoach and other Westerns, which helps transform the pants' image from labored duds to something a bit more glamorous. And they're about to get downright sexy with another boost from Hollywood. Enter Marlon Brando. The one and only Marlon Brando. In 1953's The Wild One. It powers a youth culture for the next several decades. Black motorcycle jacket, black boots, and a hearty pair of Levi's 501s. He's like the Fonz 30 years earlier. Now John Wayne's Levi's, that had been about ruggedness and hard work, but Marlin's jeans, that's all about rebellion. Young rockabillies and bad boys of the 50s adopt jeans as their uniform.

And the style becomes so associated with juvenile delinquency that schools actually start banning jeans. Oh, I'm sorry, you gotta pick me up. I'm in a pair of slim fit true legends. And of course, banning the jeans probably made them even more popular. Oh, totally.

Now, besties, as you hear us talk about this, you may be asking yourself, OK, we've got cowboys. We got John Wayne. We got Marlon Brando. We got biker gangs. What about the ladies? Don't worry, Nick. Levi's has them covered, too.

Yes, literally. The company had been offering coveralls for women since around 1918. But in 1934, they release a product they call Lady Levi's or 701s. They're aimed at women who work on cattle ranches, or at least those who might vacation there. But one barrier to jeans crossing over to women is more societal hammering. Specifically, one of the 501s most iconic features, the button fly.

I feel like we saw this coming a mile ago Those button flies they're gonna be a problem besties You may remember that Levi's 501s predated zippers by about 20 years But once the zipper is invented then the button fly is considered super racy for women in polite society I mean Jack We all know how lewd a button can be. The truth is, female ranch workers had been wearing the standard men's 501s for years, scandalous buttons and all. But in 1947, hoping to appeal to a wider range of women, Levi's adds...

a zipper. Finally. Honestly, my delicate sensibilities. I'm so glad you said it. And just like on the men's side, Hollywood helped spread the gospel of Levi's with one of the biggest female movie stars in the world. Picture this. It's 1961. Marilyn Monroe stars in a John Huston film called The Misfits, playing a divorcee. Audiences take her in. She's striding through the rugged Nevada high desert

surrounded by sagebrush Mustangs galloping below. But her character's costume is nothing like what the public has seen her in before. Because there's no form-fitting satin cocktail dress here, no skirt fanning up from the subway grate. Instead, she has on some classic high-waisted ladies Levi's. And they are a sensation. What Marlin does for young biker dudes, Marilyn does for young women looking for freedom from skirts and dresses. She exudes feminine appeal. The gold rush launched the Levi's 501s, but

Hollywood rushes into scaling. Jack, you add it all up. and reaching women with these 701s, that basically was a double the revenue opportunity. It increased their market share by like 100%. The Misfits being Marilyn's final film adds a certain mystique to the film, the jeans, and to the rebel spirit of Norma Jean herself, which is a bit of a foreshadowing for our next chapter, Jack. When Levi's 501s become a symbol for a whole new generation of rebels with a cause. By the way, Jack, legend has it, George Clooney

doesn't wear jeans either. Ha ha ha ha. Hey, Jack, forget Leo DiCaprio, because the artist most snubbed at the Oscars is the Levi's 501s. You know DiCaprio got an Oscar eventually, man. Let's fact check that. So when we left off yeti's, Levi's 501s had scored some starring roles in Hollywood, which helped transform their role in popular culture.

Having started out as a sort of protective armor for manual laborers during the gold rush, half a century later they became the armor of disaffected youth. 50s beatniks, 60s hippies and folk singers, 70s punks and gay activists. They all turned to the 501 as a blank canvas. They can tweak and they can accessorize it to fit their aesthetics. We should also say it's in the 1960s that Levi's finally makes a key marketing move for the 501s. They trade out the term waste overalls for jeans.

Well, over the years, Levi's has worked to add distinguishing touches that separate them from the competition. Their brand equity as a competitive advantage. Like that tiny red fabric tab on the back right pocket that says Levi's? That's actually been part of the 501s only since 1936. That red tab is not functional in any way. No it's not. Except to distinguish authentic Levi's from the pack. It's like the red bottom soles of a pair of Christian Louboutins. But like any brand that's been around for a while,

Levi's, they're fending off some stiff competition from rivals. Wrangler has been working to claim the cowboy demographic, and by the late 70s, designer brands like Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Jordache are going for that high fashion fancy set. So add it all up and Levi's needs a bit of a brand reset right now, which they get courtesy of a brand reset right now, which they get courtesy of a butt, a very famous rockers butt.

1984. We weren't born yet, but I feel like we are when I hear that song, Jack. Columbia Records, the boss releases his Blockbuster 7th studio album, Born in the USA. Bruce Springsteen is already a bona fide rock star, but this album quickly becomes his most iconic, not just for the music, but for the album art. Red and white horizontal stripes in the background, and in the foreground, Bruce's backside. Sporting a pair of faded blue Levi's 501s, clearly distinguishable by that red tag right on the pocket.

It's incredible marketing for Levi's. Now we should point out, Springsteen does not officially endorse the brand, but when Levi saw him wearing their pants on the album cover, they knew that was a big win. Born in the USA is released on June 4th, 1984, a month before Independence Day, and it becomes the best-selling album of Springsteen's career. And not just in the US, this is a smash hit around the world. Europe is smitten with this Bruce record, including and notably Germany. But Germany is partitioned into East and West, thanks to a charming piece of concrete architecture called the Berlin Wall.

Now interestingly, in the communist parts of Eastern Europe, jeans develop a very geopolitical brand. Western capitalist garments. The Soviet-aligned German Democratic Republic, or GDR, they actually banned jeans outright in the 1960s, which of course made jeans even more irresistible to young people. So anyone with relatives in the West was begging for Levi's to be air mailed in in any way possible. And of course a black market gets going with the illegal jeans selling for as much as $500 a pair. That's $5,000 in today's money.

We're talking low-end Rolex prices for Levi's jeans. And for young East Germans living in this communist region, Levi's aren't just about being trendy. They symbolize freedom. They symbolize rebellion. All the Western values that make their leaders nervous. But the crackdowns, they just don't seem to be working. Eventually, East Germany tries for a compromise.

They make their own East German Levi's knockoffs with names like Golf, Fox and Boxer. But these jeans are terrible. Oh, I can imagine. They don't fit right. They're somehow too big or too small. And sometimes one leg is longer than the other. The GDR's jeans is the original fashion faux pas. They get so frustrated fighting the black market of jeans that they finally just wave

the white flag. And in 1978, the East German government asks Levi's to airlift them 800,000 pairs of real American jeans. And Levi's being a good capitalist mensch, they comply. Levi's was founded by a German immigrant. Now they're shipping his most famous product back to his home. The 501s have come full circle.

And on November 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall, in a moment that goes down in history, comes down. And if you look at the iconic photos from that day, you're going to see dozens of young people crowded on top of the wall. Lots of them got mullets, of course, but every single one of them is wearing one thing and what is it, Jack? Denim.

I've looked at this picture a million times. I've never noticed that every one of them is wearing jeans. It's almost like jeans beat communism. Mr. Gorbachev, put on these 501s. Nick, you can actually make that argument. Yeah, because in July 1988, a year and a half before the wall came down, Bruce was actually allowed to perform live in a concert in East Berlin. And the entertainment

deprived people of the East saw something they could never unsee. Both the display of freedom from the capitalist West and Bruce's butt in a good old pair of Levi's 501s. You can't unsee that. It was the spark that started the fire. The 80s and 90s. They're all about Levi's 501 reclaiming its place in the cultural conversation. They're classic, sure, but they're not, you know, old. So they take a look around and they dream up a new way to tell their epic story. This is the early heyday of the MTV era. So Levi's leans into the music television trend. It launches a series

of ads that look just like music videos or artsy short films. No voiceover, just slow rolling, twangy guitar licks and stylishly grainy photography. A watershed moment is the 1985 spot called Wanderette, where a hot guy strips down in the laundromat to wash his 501s with a bunch of rocks. By the 80s. Or Jack, how about this one, where a man strolls down the stairs of a dusty old West saloon in his underwear and fetches his 501 straight from the fridge. There's also this one, where two young pioneer women spy on a shirtless man, shrink fitting his 501s in a nearby creek?

Jack, we couldn't forget about this one, which features a very young Brad Pitt in a very, very sweaty look. These are all very sweaty looks, Nick. I'm schvitzin' just looking at him, Jack, but all of them tell a very specific story. That when you think 501s, don't think coal miner, think Brad Pitt's 12 abs. There are worse ways to sell a product. Well actually the thing about these ads too, is that they position 501s as something premium, as special, something to take care of. That one guy is keeping his jeans in the fridge. The other guy is shrink fitting them to his body. The jeans

are made to be cared for because they're made to last. And this is a framing that Levi's will hold on to even as they face a new foe in the 2000s and beyond. Fast fashion. This is a challenge a lot of classic clothing brands will face and Levi's not a mere. In 2003, Levi's shifts manufacturing operations overseas and the weight of their denim does decrease a bit. Today they source their products from about 20 countries. But there's a curious side effect to this fast fashion invasion that caught our eye. The disappearance of high quality, heavyweight denim has created a massive resale market

for vintage and dead stock denim, which Levi's happens to have a lot of. And today, Levi's Denim has become a coveted brand among the Gen Z influencers set. Emma Chamberlain isn't doing a collab with Everlane, she's doing it with the 501 originals. I will see a pair of vintage Levi's from across the store and I will hear them say, we're meant to be together. And then I buy them. Yetis today, Levi's has over two dozen styles of jeans

from the 501s to the 569s. That's their loose straight style in case you're curious or the baggy daddy. Now the numbers are almost as confusing as a car company's vehicle models, but the OG 501 is still the Levi's moneymaker, their profit puppy. Ajak, how much money did the Levi's 501 is still the Levi's moneymaker, their profit puppy. Hey Jack, how much money did the Levi's 501

bring in in 2023 again? An estimated $800 million. A single style of jeans is almost a billion dollar brand. That is almost 20% of Levi's total revenues coming from the 501 brand. And according to the secondhand site, Vestier Collective, searches on their site for the 501 are 99% higher than searches for 511s, 505s, or 721s.

And then in 2019, as we covered on our daily news show, Levi's IPO'd at a $7 billion valuation on the New York Stock Exchange. In fact, we've been to the New York Stock Exchange a bunch of times. What do we know about the NYSE? They have a dress code. And jeans are not allowed. No, they're not. And this was the only time they made a historic exception. They didn't wear suits, but they did wear Canadian tuxedos. Bottom line here, Jack, at age 151 and counting, the Levi's 501 is in its prime. I hope we're the same when we're 151. I wouldn't be killing it at 151.

To pull it off, we're gonna need some good jeans. I see what you did there and I like it. So Jack, now that you've heard the story of Levi's 501s, what's your takeaway? Mine is the most basic part of the story we told. The cup holder effect. It's so simple, but it is so powerful. The one key detail that actually sells the product.

Levi's 501 made their splash with a handful of rivets. And then with a little red tag that had no particular purpose outside of marketing authenticity. Those little tiny features were the cup holders. Yes. They're what sold the product. That is the key difference. The cup holders. What about you, Nick?

What was your favorite takeaway? So Jack, my takeaway is that they stayed fresh and they stayed relevant over the years by doing something that you and I have called story selling. When you're selling your story, it's not just a product. Levi's 501 story, it's that they are denim pioneers, starting with that very first patented rivet pant on the guy who was huge.

And since then, they've been selling the story of their durability, their rebelliousness, and even their connection to Western democracy. And then they had their stint in Hollywood. Yeah. Levi's 501 became the most culturally relevant pants in America. And they even inserted themselves near the Iron Curtain, making Levi's 501s the most culturally relevant pants in the history of not being naked. Now Jack, that's a lot for one pair of waist overalls. But man, do they pull it off. Now Jack, before we go, our favorite time of the show. The best facts yet. What do we got?

Levi's didn't make their first pre-shrunk pair of jeans until 1967, which means they were always shrink to fit. So you better get a pair that's a little too big, because they're going to come in after the first watch. The reason number four why I don't wear jeans. We talked about Levi's in film, but did you know that Jedi's wear Levi's? The Force is strong with the slim fit, Jack. Technically, he's not a Jedi yet when he wore them.

But in the original Star Wars movie, Episode 4, Luke Skywalker's first outfit on Tatooine, he's wearing a pair of bleached white Levi's. His white tunic covers up the top, so you can't see the two horse logo. But they're Levi's. 501s you're wearing. Speaking of which, Jack, for the 501s 150th birthday in 2023,

a group in Latvia actually tested some real Levi's against some real Latvian horses. Who won, the jeans or the horses? Sadly, this time those really strong Latvian horses came out on top and actually ripped the jeans. And that, yetis and besties, is why Levi's 501s is the best idea yet. And we Yetis and Besties is why Levi's 501s is the best idea yet.

And we want to know what other iconic products you want us to look into and we'll jump into them. Drop us some comments or write your idea in the review of this podcast. And Nick and I will be all over. In the meantime, Jack, I'm willing to get out of these J. Crew khakis and try these things on. Coming up on the next episode of the best idea yet, Jack, what do we got?

I'm turning on the jets because we're hitting the story of Jacuzzi. All right. Got to slip into something more comfortable for this one. Follow the best idea yet on the wonder app, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to every episode of the Best Idea Yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. The Best Idea Yet is a production of Wondery hosted by me, Nick Martel, and me, Jack Gravici-Kramer. Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gauthier.

Matt Wise is our producer. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan, and Taylor Sniffin is our managing producer. Our associate producer is H. Conley. This episode was written by Katie Clark-Gray and Noor Gill and produced by Katie Clark-Gray. Research by Samuel Fatzinger. We use many sources in our research.

A few that were helpful were Ed Kray's book, Le's, the shrink to fit business that stretched to cover the world. Sound design and mixing by C.J. Drameller. Fact checking by Molly Artwick. Music supervision by Scott Velasquez and Jolina Garcia for Freesong Sing. Our theme song is Got That Feeling Again by Black Lac.