- Robyn Turk
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Lee is returning to its roots. The iconic American denim brand has
announced an upcoming collection called Reissue, comprised of replicas
of the first garments the brand had ever designed for women.
Playing off of a recent consumer interest in vintage styles,
Reissue brings back to market first-edition designs Lee had originally
introduced in the 1940s and early 1950s. The collection also comes at
the same time the brand celebrates its 130th anniversary.
The designs in the Reissue collection are true recreations of
original Lee garments. The brand worked with longtime partner Cone
Denim Mills to recreate the raw and washed denim fabric of the time to
ensure design authenticity in even the smallest details such as thread
choices, hardware and manufacturing processes. Lee asserts in a press
release that aside from translating vintage sizing to current day
numbers, everything is the same between the replicas and original
garments.
“These pieces represent a time when Lee took what was made for men
and created jeans made specifically for the female body,” explained
Betty Madden, Lee’s vice president of Global Design. “They were
originally designed and worn by what we call the lovely tough girls:
the women who were riding horses, working in factories during the war,
who were making things happen and looking cool and effortless while
doing so.
“Today’s Reissue is still for those same women – the ones who forge
their own path with confidence and grace. The women who don’t believe
being a tomboy or a girly girl are mutually exclusive – the lovely
tough girls who are still making it happen.”
Reissue will launch this month on Lee’s e-commerce site and its
flagship store, as well as in select boutiques in Europe and the U.S.
Prices for the line start at 175 dollars.
Images: Lee
