Celebrating 140 years of the 501 Jean, Levi's reached out to Sub Rosa to activate a Global Style party in collaboration with Lookbook.nu to resurface the jean pioneer. The event culminated in 4 locations and 5 activations around the globe - Toronto, Brooklyn, San Paulo and lastly in San Francisco. Each location utilized traveling, custom furniture, designed by myself and Caitlin Joyce that were made entirely of shipping pallets, plywood, casters and other simple industrial materials.
The 8 custom DIY styling stations were individually red tab branded to highlight the specific activity offered and to sprinkle the spaces with Levi's branding. Additional custom furniture elements like chalkboard lean-tos, a traveling BOSCO photo booth, palette framed 501 style photography and a large Tailor station were built and sent to space specific locations. Upon entering, guests received an individually numbered pattern packet, which could be used at the Tailoring station that was supplied with Levi's remnants and provided custom alterations. The Tailoring station was also equipped with custom DIY 1922 501 overalls and suspenders, which acted as the hospital gown for on-site alterations to jeans worn in by patrons. Guest would simply borrow the 1922's while their jeans were being working on by a Levi's tailor. Brining the customer to the spotlight in these activations, and working with location specific bloggers and the Lookbook.nu community, the #501 conversation quickly flooded the social markets and sold out of the respected engagement. All in all the 501 has been brought back to the surface as a slightly forgotten, but renewed style contender. The pieces of this engagement have thus spilled into the retail stores, and elements are actually trickling into the Levi's consumer facing conversation. NY photographs by Will Ross, and the rest from various local photographers.