Model: Levi’s® x Denim Tears 501® Jean
Price: S$279.90
Drop date: July 28
Buy here: Levi.com.sg
Model: Levi’s® x Denim Tears Type II Trucker
Price: S$349.90
Drop date: July 28
Buy here: Levi.com.sg
Model: Levi’s® x Denim Tears Plantation Hat
Price: S$149.90
Drop date: July 28
Buy here: Levi.com.sg
Storytelling is at the heart of Denim Tears x Levi’s Season 2 collection. Tremaine Emory, the mind behind Denim Tears, leverages his brand’s two-year partnership with Levi’s to create visceral collections that explore America’s checkered past with race and injustice. He tells these rich stories through denim – a fabric with a troublesome past in the history of the African Diaspora in America.
The prints are designed to be a visual mnemonic – an instantly recognizable print that represents the struggles of the Gullah Geechee people. They were descendants of the Africans enslaved in lower American Atlantic coast plantations that primarily exported indigo-dyed workwear.
Emory contrasts the white denim with bold prints of indigo-dyed hands. The visceral pattern focuses on the unrelenting dying work the Gullah Geechee people had to endure. The color scheme reflects the scale of the slave trade – a homage to the Kofa Mata Dye pits in Kano, Nigeria that was known for indigo dyeing since the 15th century.
Branding takes the backseat in this collaboration. Unlike most other streetwear collaborations, Denim Tears simply adds its name to the red tabs and back patches so that the focus is on the message of the prints.
Singapore is the only country in Southeast Asia to receive pieces from the Levi’s x Denim Tears Season 2 collection. Only 25 pieces of the 501 Jean, Type II Trucker Jacket and Plantation Hat will be available exclusively on Levi.com.sg on July 28.
Learn more about the history of the Levi’s 501 Jean: The evolution of a cultural icon