Levi's has been copying its own old jeans since the 1980s, and Japanese makers have been doing it almost as long. Many of those reissues are now decades old themselves, faded and worn, and they turn up in listings next to the real thing, sometimes described as originals. A good reissue is a fine thing to own. This guide is about knowing which one you're paying for.
Levi's Japan and the Big E reissues
The reissues started in Japan, where collectors were hunting old Levi's across the American West in the 1980s. Japanese Wikipedia's history of Levi Strauss Japan sets out the early ones. In 1986 the company began making a 502XX, a reissue of the zip-fly 501ZXX with selvedge denim and a capital E tab. In 1987 came the 701XX, a reissue of the 1936 501XX with a back cinch and a paper patch, later renumbered 702. A Type I jacket reissue, the 70502, followed in 1988. In 1994 Levi's Japan started a fuller vintage series with a 504Z, then a 551Z in 1995. In 1996 it regrouped this Big E project as Levi's Vintage Clothing and added 1930s and 1910s 501 reissues, the 702XX and S702XX. Its first Japanese-made 501, the 66501, came in 2000.
The US company followed. The same source says Levi's began making Big E reissues in the United States in 1992, starting with a 1968-style button-fly 501 without hidden rivets, then a 1955 model as the 55501 in 1996 and a 551ZXX reissue in 1997. The US-made reissues were known as reproducts. The Valencia Street plant in San Francisco, built weeks after the 1906 earthquake, closed in 2002, and the last US plant, in San Antonio, closed at the end of 2003.
Levi's Vintage Clothing
Sources differ on when LVC began. Japanese Wikipedia's Levi's chronology says Levi's Europe started the Levi's Vintage Clothing project in 1998, while its history of the Japanese company says Japan renamed its own reissues LVC in 1996. Today LVC works from the company archive in San Francisco, which Levi's says holds about 20,000 pieces from the 1880s to the mid-1980s. Its head of design told Levi's the only change made to an archive piece is grading it into a full size run.
LVC has been made in several countries. Heddels said in 2017 that LVC made most of its rigid 501s and jackets in the US, and Levi's says it brought selvedge back for LVC. Recent LVC 1922 and 1933 jeans are made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim. Levi's also brought the Big E tab back in 2018 for its premium products.
How to tell a reissue from an original
- Tags inside. This is Levi's own advice for separating a new Big E from an old one. Care tags only came in with the FTC rule in 1971, so any Big E, cinch-back or hidden-rivet pair with a care tag, a printed size tag or a modern brand label inside is a reissue.
- Country of manufacture. Levi's Japan made its reissues in Japan, and recent LVC jeans are made there too. A Made in Japan label on a Big E or cinch-back pair means a reissue.
- Button-back stamps. Heddels' jacket guide says three-digit stamps such as 524, 554, 555 and 558 are common on LVC reproductions, and that genuine vintage Levi's jackets usually have one- or two-digit stamps. Its 501 guide adds that mainline 501s carried three-digit factory stamps from 1981 to 2002, with 555 meaning Valencia Street. So a three-digit stamp on a Big E or a 1950s-style jacket points to a reissue, while on a plain 1990s 501 it's normal.
- Lot numbers. A 501 sold as 1930s with 701XX or 702XX on the patch is a Levi's Japan reissue. The original 701 was the women's Lady Levi's lot.
- The tab. Levi's says a share of its regular jeans get a blank red tab with only the registered mark, but LVC never does, because the old products it copies never had one. A blank tab rules out LVC, though not other modern Levi's.
None of these is proof alone, so line two or three up before you believe a listing. Our 501 dating guide covers the original details these reissues copy.
Japanese reproduction brands
Japanese makers built the repro scene. Heddels' history of the Osaka 5 names the founders. Studio D'Artisan started in 1979 and made its DO-1 jean in 1986. Denime followed in 1988, Evisu in 1991, then Fullcount, and Warehouse in 1995 with its Lot 1001XX. The Real McCoy's, Sugar Cane, The Flat Head and Iron Heart came along in the same world, and several have made Levi's-style jackets and Lee-style Storm Riders, which our Storm Rider guide covers.
These are the easiest reproductions to spot, because they carry their own names. In 2007 Levi's sued several repro brands in North America over details like the red tab and the arcuate, and Heddels says most had to change their arcuates and pull some models. Since then Japanese repros usually have their own back pocket stitching and their own tab or none at all, plus the maker's name on the patch and the buttons. Older Japanese repros from before the lawsuit can look much closer to Levi's, so read the patch and the buttons, not just the back pockets.
Lee and Wrangler reissues
The same thinking applies to the other two big brands. Heddels says Lee regularly releases Storm Riders under its Lee 101 label, often made in Japan. Wrangler made a Special Collectors Edition 13MWZ for its 50th anniversary in 1997, a Blue Bell by Wrangler reproduction collection in 2004, and a selvedge 1947 jean in the USA around its 70th anniversary. Our 47MWZ and Storm Rider pages cover those.
Is a reissue a good buy?
For wearing, often yes. A 1990s American-made reissue or an LVC jacket is made with care, comes in sizes that fit modern bodies, and costs far less than the pair it copies. It just isn't an original, and its value follows its own market. Price the reissue as a reissue and check the measurements, since rigid LVC jeans are cut to shrink. If you want the jacket originals, our Type I and Type II pages cover what to look for, and the later Type III page covers the jacket most often reissued.
