Levi’s loves a deep cut (and so do we). The brand’s Vintage Clothing arm has spent years working backwards through the archive, reissuing the 1944 501, the 1937 501, and last year’s 9Rivet from the 1870s.
Now it’s gone even further back to pull out the so-called Nevada, a waist overall stitched together when Levi Strauss & Co. was barely five or six years into making pants at all.
Older Than the 501
To put this in context: the 1873 copper rivet patent that gave us the modern blue jean hadn’t even been filed yet when the Nevada’s design language took shape. This is denim from the genre’s prehistoric era, named after the state where surviving pairs were eventually unearthed by archival researchers.
One cool feature here is the slim tool pocket that rides the left thigh, a feature that Levi’s only produced for a brief window before eventually phasing it out. Everything that would later become the 501 template is starting to take shape here, but the silhouette is wider, the construction is less standardized, and the back carries a single pocket rather than the matched pair we all know today.
The Material Story Is Almost Mythical
Levi’s really went all out here. The denim is deadstock plain selvedge loomstate fabric from Cone Mills White Oak, the legendary North Carolina mill that shuttered in 2017 after more than a century of supplying Levi’s with denim. Once that material is gone, it’s actually gone, with no second batch or follow-up release in the cards. And we all know how limited releases go these days.
The fabric also clocks in at a 9 oz. weight, which is a lighter hand more period-accurate to what would’ve actually come off the looms in the 1870s. It’s also rigid loomstate, meaning unsanforized and unwashed, so expect serious shrinkage on first soak and pretty long break-in period.
Every Period-Correct Detail Accounted For
As expected, Levi’s didn’t cut corners on the construction either. You get 1873-patent rivets, sew-on buttons (a detail Levi’s eventually moved away from), a single-needle arcuate stitched onto the lone back pocket, a center-back leather patch, denim pocket bags, leather washers behind the rivets, a buttoned fly, suspender buttons, and a cinch strap.
And the whole thing is assembled in the USA at a small-batch scale so you can expect these to be a hot commodity.
Spec Sheet
Brand: Levi’s Vintage Clothing
Model: 1870s Nevada Jeans
Fabric: Deadstock Cone Mills White Oak plain selvedge loomstate denim
Fabric Weight: 9 oz.
Construction: Single-needle arcuate, 1873-patent rivets, sew-on buttons, leather washers, center-back leather patch, denim pocket bags
Closure: Button fly with cinch back and suspender buttons
Notable Detail: Left-thigh tool pocket, single rear pocket
Manufacturing Origin: USA
Price: ¥99,000 (~$623 USD)
Pricing & Availability
The Nevada is a Japan-exclusive release, priced at ¥99,000 (~$623) and sold through a lottery on Levi’s Japan’s online store along with the Harajuku, Shinjuku, Osaka, Nagoya Zero Gate, and Kyoto flagships. The lottery window runs through May 21st, and resale entries are getting tossed. For US denim heads, this one’s a proxy-buyer situation.
Recap
Levi’s Vintage Clothing 1870s Nevada Jeans
Made in the USA from deadstock 9 oz. Cone Mills White Oak selvedge and faithful down to the 1873 rivets and left-thigh tool pocket, the 1870s Nevada is a reissue of one of the oldest pairs of jeans in Levi’s archive. Catch: it’s a Japan-only lottery at ¥99,000.
