PR: Lee’s 125th Anniversary Special . . .125 Years of Denim Mastery and Purposeful Design

Nowhere does the cultural heritage of the Americas—the delineating design of popular culture—come more alive than in a classic pair of Lee Jeans. Inherited in the brands DNA is 125 years of craftsmanship, innovation and purposeful design. Lee Jeans has created history in ways that we see, wear and experience denim now. To celebrate this more-than-a-century of inventing functional fashion, the “Lee Archive Tour”, was created—a curated collection of iconic Lee pieces—to tour around the Asia-Pacific region starting with Beijing, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Australia.

The “Lee Archive Tour”

Building the exhibit from the ground up, the two-storey contemporary metal-and-wood structure will first be constructed in Glorietta and deconstructed to be put up again in Robinson’s Place Ermita and then to SM Mall of Asia. The Lee Archives serves not so much as a museum as a chronicle of fashion firsts, denim die-hards will see where much of the current jean innovations started from.

The exhibition space opens with a visual play on repetition: at attention are 125 limited edition “Buddy Lee” dolls wearing customized and shrunken to proportion 101+ denim replicas—complete with miniature hardware and stitch detail. “Buddy Lee”, 92 years old and cherubic faced as ever is the brands mascot and has been since 1922. In the earlier days, Buddy was used as an advertising product, a convenient traveling tool to showcase new styles but now he’s more of the brand’s symbol of heritage and an endearing icon for Lee.

The focus of the whole tour is at the main display area: 27 historic Lee items collected from different parts of the world representing the historic timeline of Lee Jean’s purposeful design. A woman’s Union-All from 1918 is the most vintage in the archive and clearly represents the infusion of functionality even then. The Union-all was primarily designed for the male car mechanic, addressing the inconvenience of their jackets and trousers separating while they were working under cars. So Lee melded the two together to create the first Union-All. The women’s Union-all on the other hand became the uniform for the ladies during the First World War who were working on the positions left vacant by the men who left for the army.

Stories behind each piece and more are described and explained in detail by Jean Svadlenak, the historian of Lee Jeans who travels with the items but is based in the heartland of the brand, Kansas U.S.A. She has researched and broken down the significance of the 27-piece Lee Archive into historical fashion chronology:  Work Wear (mechanics 1910-1119), Western Wear (cowboys 1920-1929) and Lesiure Wear (casual fashion 1950-1959).

Lee X Araki. Staying curious, creative and provocative.

Departing from the traditional and conservative visual narrative, Lee Jeans for the 125^th anniversary has collaborated with internationally celebrated and prolific Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. Exploring the nature of self through denim, Araki lensed two special images especially for the Philippines—one that’s obviously submissive and one contrastingly aggressive, both pictures expressing emotions through innuendos and denim fashion. Lee X Araki,  a powerful collaboration that shares the same curious and thought-provoking mindset exclusive only at the “Lee Archive tour”.

Lee 101+. A modern rework of the originals.

The iconic Lee 101 jeans currently sold in stores now are reproductions of the original and classic cowboy jeans. For the 125^th anniversary however, Lee Jeans has created a special range, the Lee 101+ jeans, a limited edition collection that introduces new design elements to existing authentic details of the classic Lee 101. Definitely for the denim connoisseur who appreciates the subtle nuances in their classics, both the modern 101+ and the vintage 101’s will be on display at the Lee Archive Tour as a creative comparison of denim design throughout the decades.

Make your Lee Jeans your own.

Make your personal 125^th anniversary Lee Jeans.

Explore your denim creativity in the do-it-yourself workshop, exclusive 125^th anniversary trims in the form of: colored and textured leather patches, button, rivets and iron-on appliques are available to add-on to your jeans. There’s also an area that specializes in surface finish where you can subject your denim to tough loving: distressing, scraping and whiskering processes so you can give your favorite pair a vintage and worn-in feel. A monogramming service is also at hand to personalize your best crafted creation. (note: the DIY provision is only available at SM Mall of Asia.)

Celebrate good times. Cmon!

Be a part of history and celebrate this momentous occasion with us. 27 key pieces, the Araki exhibit a do-it-yourself area and heritage that changed fashion. The SM Mall of Asia Philippine Fashion Week Event will be hosted by celebrity host Bianca Gonzalez and performance by the Philippine All-Stars.

The Lee Archive Tour, Philippine leg culminates on May30 in the SM Mall of Asia Atrium in Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2014. See more stories and share Lee Jean’s 125^th anniversary at http://lee125.com.