AmExperiencePBS

Was there a particular era of denim or denim fad you didn't get to cover in the film but wish you did?

Michael: The punk style, the idea of holes in general in jeans. Its another iteration of class and society that we didn’t get to access in the film. There are many but that was a big one!

I was also very interested in the Beats. We just didn’t have time. William Burroughs supposedly said Jack Kerouac ‘sold a trillion Levis.’

Anna Lee: Claire McCardell was also a big player in turning denim from function to fashion. Turning denim into dresses, denim as bathing suits, things you wouldn’t really think of as denim.

James: The mashup in the 70s. People think the hippies ended and disco started and there’s this canyon between them, but there's a continuum you can see through the jeans. You can go from Neil Young wearing ripped jeans to the Ramones wearing ripped jeans. Likewise from hippie to disco. You see hippies creating more upscale versions of the jeans, slicker look in the 70s. And that paved the way for the designer jeans.

What's the weirdest denim look that got super popular in your opinion?

Michael: I think ripped jeans. The notion that people are paying a fortune to have their jeans worn out. For someone my age it just boggles the mind. It used to be the rips told your story because you ripped them. Now you buy them ripped! What’s going on with that?

Anna Lee: I’ve given this a lot of thought as someone who used to be anti-holes and shredded jeans! I think ripped jeans make a lot of sense! The work ethic is so strong in America, people want to be perceived that they do stuff. I think the worn out jeans is subconscious wanting to be seen as doing stuff. Even though we don’t realize it harkens back to hard labor.

James: I agree with Michael! You have to earn it. You have to make those holes yourself.

Michael: The environment. Environmentally jeans are incredibly wasteful. They use an incredible amount of water per pair to make. Almost all jeans manufacturers are trying to “green” jeans.

Anna Lee: Water is the big thing not just for cotton but the manufacturing process of beating up the jeans. You have these farms in LA with huge machines that just add effects to jeans.

James: The next generation. Every generation for the last 5, 6, 7, generations has reimagined the classic pair of blue jeans for themselves. Whether its the shredded weathered look of the 60s, designer looks of the 70s, etc. every generation since jeans became leisurewear have figured out a way to reimagine the garment.

Is it true that you almost never need to wash jeans, or was that Levi’s CEO just weird?

James: Not “almost never” but you can definitely wear them for awhile before washing.

Anna Lee: We didn’t get to talk about that in the film. There’s a couple books about how Japan rescued American denim. They bought up vintage jeans and looms. They sent buyers out here.

James: During the booming Japanese economy of the 80s, investors were looking for all kinds of collectible things. They created the skyrocketing interest in vintage denim. They had “pickers” coming over looking for dead stock, jeans that hadn’t been touched for 40 years. Then turned around and sold those for top dollar, $1,000, $1,500 pairs or whatever. They created what was for awhile a raging market for denim. They created a desire for replicated vintage denim looks in the 1990s and 2000s.

Michael: We talked to someone who claimed to have over 1 million dollars worth of denim in their warehouse.

James: A collector took me to his storage facility, just packed floor to ceiling with vintage denim. Way more than a million dollars worth.

Anna Lee: Denimheads these days say it's all about Japanese denim.