It’s not every day one crosses path with a denim historian. Or quite understand what the term even means. Quiz the woman in question and Tracey Panek throws her head back in laughter, saying: “It is denim hunting in many ways.”
By way of explanation, her job at Levi Strauss — the denim company — probably opens the doors to a number of questions and Panek doesn’t disappoint with her responses. “I track historical denim pieces down, things I may have seen in a photograph of a museum exhibit or perhaps find a piece that may be up for auction. We try to preserve historical pieces and perhaps even uncover the story behind the person who once wore them.”
Some of the more notable collectibles Panek has tracked down over the years includes a jacket that was once worn by Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein, along with a pair of jeans that Steve Jobs ‘almost certainly’ wore while introducing Apple to the world, she says.
Gulf News tabloid! sifted through some of the more colourful pieces to bring you the stories behind the clothes that made the men and women:
Albert Einstein’s jacket
Says Panek: “There was an amazing auction in London last year. I was there for an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum and it just so happened that the same week Christie’s was auctioning off a leather jacket worn in the 1930s by Albert Einstein — one that Levis Strauss had manufactured.
“It was the very same jacket that Einstein was photographed in regularly and one that was even featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1938.”
The Menlo Cossack leather jacket, Panek explains, was a style that was first manufactured in 1932. While the historian states she doesn’t know how Einstein acquired the jacket, the leather accessory was mainly sold in the West at the time.
“We know at the time he was in Pasadena at the [Caltech] University labs. Wherever he got it, he wore it for almost every day over a three- to four-year period. When it came up for auction, Christie’s let me know it had been with the family since his death.”
For Panek, the story is much more than just holding a piece of clothing that once belonged to the physicist, which she explains: “Einstein was being naturalised at the time, and here he was purchasing an American brand. This is a story of an immigrant who comes to America and lives the American dream. The jacket itself is remarkable. Einstein was known to smoke a pipe and you can still smell it,” she adds.
Steve Jobs’ jeans
The Apple creator was also known for his signature style: a black mock turtleneck, New Balance sneakers and 501 Levis. One such pair of denims has found its way into the Levi Strauss collection, acquired from Jobs’ family estate.
Says Panek: “This pair was worn by Steve Jobs in the 1980s; this pair of 501s are likely the same ones he wore at the release of the Apple LLC.”
Jobs was famously photographed in his 501s and suspenders holding the Apple keyboard standing next to John Sculley and Steve Wozniak in 1984.
“Steve Jobs worn his jeans with a pair of suspenders and if you look on the inside waistband of these jeans you will see buttons were added to accommodate suspenders,” she adds.
Prison Pants
The pair in question are a pair of Sta-Prest White Levi’s that are covered with graphic artwork created by a former prison inmate during his 30-year incarceration through 2012.
Says Panek: “It was 1967 and the American summer of love. In a picture we found in the UCLA library, you see a guy dancing without a shirt but wearing a pair of White Levis. These are the jeans that you see now, which have been completely transformed.”
Panek says she acquired the pair in 2016. “The inmate was down in San Diego and was trying to sell his guitar. But inside the case were these pair of pants,” she explains. “The man buying was not interested in the guitar, but he bought the pants and then got in touch me.”
Doug Hansen’s Summer of Love Inspired 501s
Says Panek: “This piece was acquired in 2017. Doug Hansen is a children’s book illustrator today but back in 1970, he had just landed in California and missed the summer of love. To cover his disappointment, he bought himself a pair of 501s and started to customise it — recreate them literally. He bought a traditional button fly pair and started covering them with patches.
“I came across these at a museum exhibit. I contacted the curator and she put me in touch with Doug. The patches on these jeans come from his grandmother’s vintage tie collection. His girlfriend’s clothes…”
Jennifer Lopez 518s
“This is a great story,” says Panek. “Back in 2000 a new singer had just erupted on to the music scene and she had been invited to perform at the American Super Bowl.”
The artist in question was a relative newcomer, Jennifer Lopez.
Says Panek: “For her appearance, we customised a pair of super low jeans covered with coloured crystals to add some bling.”
DENIM IN HISTORY
Tracey Panek, the Levi Strauss denim historian, gives a quick history lesson into the origins of the 100-year-old company:
-Invention: “Levi Strauss invented the blue jeans. About 20 years after the gold rush [in the US], we took a patent out for it 1873 for improving pockets in work pants. And the improvement was to take a tiny piece of metal and add it to a pocket so they wouldn’t tear. We still add it to the pants today.”
-What’s in a name: Panek says: “We did not call them blue jeans in the 19th century. They were called overalls because you could pull them up over your long underwear or pants. By the 1930s we had selected the cowboy as our symbol. We were specially associated with the rodeo.
“However, in 1967 we moved from the rodeo to the youth market. Zipper jeans were introduced and teenagers started calling us jeans.”
-Pocketful of stories: “You can identify a pair of 19th century Levis as there is only a single pocket in the back. We didn’t add the second pocket until 1901,” she says.
-The numbers game: Panek says the 501 is the blueprint for all jeans today, with roots that began with work wear in the West. “The numbers were a lot system. The 500 is our top of the range. While the 701 was for women.”
-Great San Francisco earthquake: “We don’t know a lot of the information of early 19th because in 1906 there was the San Francisco earthquake and fire that destroyed most of the company records,” she adds.
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY
Tracey Panek recalls a pair that she’s dying to add to her collection — the Marilyn Monroe jeans the legendary Hollywood actress wore in the 1959 classic, Misfits.
Says Panek: “Marilyn was paired with Clark Gable, with the movie is set in Nevada. There’s a scene where she is out on an open plain and running after the horses in a pair of Levis.
“[Designer] Tommy Hilfiger had a few pair of Marilyn Monroe jeans in his personal collection. Two of these he gave away — one to Britney Spears and the other to Naomi Campbell. I bet they have it.”
Did you know?
The oldest pair of jeans in the Levi Strauss archives date back to the 1880s and are referred to as Spur Bites, worn by a cowboy who rode a horse and tore up the bottoms of his pants with spurs.
