Julianne's Fashion Sourcebook: Analyzing Jeans

The "modern" jean dates back to Levi Strauss in 1849, during the era of the California Gold Rush. In 1936, the red tab that identified jeans as the Levi's brand was created and by this time, there were other jean companies such as Wrangler vying for Levi’s success.[1] Below are two images of vintage Levi's from the 1960's. [2] The third image is a Wrangler jean's ad that complemented the Wrangler slogan "Cut by Cowboys for Cowboys".[3]

The first designer jeans were Jordache jeans and were created in 1978.[4]

Due to the immense popularity of Jordache, the 1980's brought about a craze for designer jeans. As more and more companies entered the designer jean market during this decade, designer jeans became a "proper category in the apparel industry".[5] One of the most popular brands of designer jeans of the 1980's was Calvin Klein. Klein made marketing history with his advertisements of a 15 year old Brooke Shields proclaiming "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins".[6] Though Klein was criticized for exploiting the sexuality of a teenage girl, Klein continued to create sexy jean ads, and his jeans became one of the most successful designer brands in history.

Another designer jean company that became famous during the 1980's is Guess?. Guess also understood the marketing concept of making jeans "sexy" and employed one of the world's sexiest women, supermodel Claudio Shiffer, to promote the Guess? brand.

Designer Jean companies of the 1980's not only tried to promote their brands as sexy and fashionable but also as "cool". The image below is an ad by 1980's designer jean brand Sasson featuring Canadian Rangers hockey player, Ron Duguay. (If you think this ad is really "sexy" and "cool", the commercial is even better- check it out on You Tube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNjntNHHUs0)

OH, LA LA Sasson!

Today, designer jeans are "all the rage" and with the demand for vintage clothing on the rise, some of the original designer brands such as Jordache and Gloria Vanderbilt are staging a comeback. The first image shows supermodel Heidi Klum as the recent spokesmodel for the new/old Jordache. The second image is a recent advertisement for Gloria Vanderbilt, portraying that idea that retro denim design is chic again.

Guess? is one 1980's designer jean brand that never exited the market. Guess? continued to try to portray itself as the "true" sexy designer jean throughout the 1990's using its original recipe for success: famous, beautiful women such as playboy playmate, Anna Nicole Smith, and supermodel Eva Herzigova. As designer jeans are more popular than ever, Guess? has a lot of competition in the 21st century. The most recent sexy blond celebrity chosen to be the face of Guess? is Paris Hylton.

As designer jeans are such big business, many couture design houses such as Versace, Polo, and Armani also target the designer jeans market worldwide. Such companies are known for their impeccable style, intricate tailoring, and luxury brand names. While most consumers cannot afford the couture clothing of these designers, designer jeans are more affordable apparel items, thus allowing more consumers the ability to wear a luxury designer brand name. The first image is a Versace Jeans ad. The second image is a Polo Jeans ad, and the third ad is for Armani Jeans.

As the popularity of the designer jean continues to rise many new companies have entered the market. These high-end designer jean brands didn't come from "couture" houses, but still boast expensive price tags as they made a name for themselves solely for their great denim looks, fits and styles. These companies are the trendiest American designer jean companies of the 21st century and are popular amongst Hollywood celebrities and the younger "hipper market". Three examples include: True Religion, Seven For All Mankind, and Rock and Republic. All three of these companies were started in the early 2000's in Los Angeles, CA.