The UK was one of Levi’s fastest growing markets last year, with everything from Harry Styles to Noel Gallagher as British trend leaders. Grimm is great are identified in the brand’s kit.
Lucia Marcuzzo, managing director of European operations at the US company known for its denim jeans, says a revival of 1990s trends has boosted sales of its classic 501s. New trends like baggy jeans and cinch styles that can be adjusted around the waist have also helped, as denim has made a comeback in wardrobes.
In the era of the Covid pandemic, denim has lost out in favor of slouchy dressing for lounging at home. Closed high streets in many parts of the world have also affected sales, as many people prefer to try on jeans before buying to get a better fit.
Louis Deglis-Favre, principal apparel analyst at GlobalData, said jeans sales were growing faster than the broader fashion market, at 1.5% a year, and “denim has had some time”.
Denim brands have a certain level of trust and a reputation for quality, she says, which is benefiting from the shift towards value for money, which is “not about low prices, but getting your money’s worth”.
Established labels such as Levi’s have strong resale value on sites such as Vintage, but competition from brands such as Topshop, which once flooded the high street with cheap and on-trend jeans, has waned.
Deglise-Favre added that Levi’s was “slowly reviving its image with celebrity tie-ups for younger buyers” as it “slowly became cool again”.
Susie Draffon, senior denim strategist at trends agency WGSN, says denim bands are benefiting from expanding into a wide range of fashionable jeans silhouettes, from jackets and shirts to skirts, as well as from wide leg to boot cut.
Denim is now an “important and versatile part of everyday wardrobes,” she says: “90s and 2000s nostalgia, largely driven by gen Z, has fueled denim trends and supported a revival of double denim and full denim outfitting.”
Marcuzzo said sales growth was driven by strong sales online as well as through wholesale accounts and Levi’s own stores – which have more than 70 outlets in the UK thanks to the brand’s take-up by online influencers, musicians and trendsetters.
Aimed at VIPs, stylists and tastemakers, Levi’s House of Strauss showroom in London has helped launch new collaborations with Styles and Japanese designer brand Sakai, British brand Barber and Rizzle Kicks Jordan Stephens.
These local collaborations are on top of Beyoncé’s championing of double denim, including Levi’s. Jeans Timothée Chalamet sporting vintage-style Levi’s is a track on her Cowboy Carter album, released in 2024, and in the 2025 Dylan biopic, Complete Unknown.
Marcuzzo says it’s “reinventing icons” like the Levi’s 501 as well as selling its classic fit.
“It’s about understanding what the customer wants and reinventing and reinventing yourself,” she says.
