150th Anniversary of the 501

Back when jeans were still known as ‘waist overalls’, Levi’s® cemented themselves as leaders in practicality and fashion through the iconic 501®. This year, these jeans turned 150 and to celebrate, Levi’s® launched ‘The Greatest Stories Ever Told’ campaign, bringing the jeans to life in an ultra-personal way through the decades. XYZ was tasked with the challenge of bringing this milestone anniversary to life in a London-centric way, with a creative concept that was culturally led.

XYZ delved into the history of the 501® to design a creative concept that cemented the jeans’ relevance to a diverse UK-specific audience. Tapping into the brand’s musical roots, we based our concept on the relationship between Sound System culture, bass music and fashion. The experience paired the unmistakable features of a 501® with bass music references to build an interactive, 4 day event space. Drenched in orange, the colour represented the ‘musical thread’ that ran throughout the experience – matched perfectly with the stitching of the jeans. A fully functioning speaker stack was the centrepiece of the experience, alongside archive pieces, an acoustic therapy ‘bass bath’ and a giant sized mind map of bass culture.

In addition to the creative concept, XYZ were responsible for production, project management and partner collaborations which included two launch nights, food and beverage, t-shirt printing and management of a photoshoot for content that would support the pop-up campaign.

With ticketed and invite-only events at capacity, as well as continuous walk-ins across the weekend, the pop-up was well-received by press and public alike, easily setting a precedent for the next 150 years of this incredible product.