The Making Of A Pair Of Lee 101z Jeans
The Lee 101z jeans is one of the iconic styles from the American denim brand. The brand has a long and rich history as they started back in 1889 by the founder Henry David Lee. The 101z style is part of their premium 101 collection and one of the cornerstones of the brand.
Regular Fit With Straight Legs
The 101z is a regular fit with straight legs. It was introduced in 1926 as the first jeans with a zip fly. This was also one of the first pairs of jeans specifically made for cowboys after the launch of the first Lee Cowboy jeans in 1924.
Special Limited Edition
For this Fall Winter 2018 collection Lee produced a limited edition of the 101z. It’s made of Lot 21 denim, a heavyweight 18oz selvedge fabric from the Japanese Kaihara mill. The weft yarns are rope-dyed in indigo and then combined with a brown overdyed weft. The result is a fabric with an authentic look.
The selvedge of the fabric has a pink line. It’s woven on an authentic narrow shuttle loom that can produce around 100 meters per day. A very slow process to get the best results.
The Key Details
One of the key details of a 101 pair is the Lazy S stitching on the back pockets which was originally introduced in 1944. It resemble the horns of the famous long horns. The back pockets are shaped like a shield and have cross marks for extra durability.
For the rivets, they use branded copper versions and the top waistband button is made of brass. On the back of the jeans they added a genuine black leather patch which will age together with the jeans.
On the inside of the waistband, there’s a label located at the center. The label is made with red and yellow threads. On the inner pockets, they printed all the details of each pair but also a logbook so you can count your wearing days and washings as a personal diary.
51 Sewing Steps For Each Pair
In the video here below, you can see all the details and steps how they produce a pair of Lee 101z jeans. Each pair is made of 12 precision cut denim pieces. It requires 51 sewing steps to create one pair.
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