The Levi’s 501 jean is one of the most iconic pieces of clothing ever made. It’s been lived in and worn the world over, transcending borders, cultures, languages and generations. And in 2023, it was celebrating a massive milestone: it’s 150th anniversary. For Levi’s largest brand initiative ever, we needed to honor the billions of devoted wearers worldwide, and inspire the next generation to fasten up a pair. We needed to tell the legend and lore of the original blue jean. So, we told “The Greatest Story Ever Worn,” a global anthology based on the true exploits of Levi’s 501 wearers from the past 150 years.
Our 150th anniversary campaign began by uncovering a 150-year-old prevailing truth. When it comes to the Levi’s 501, fact is decidedly stranger than fiction. After digging through the depths of the Internet and the Levi's archives, we uncovered source material almost too unbelievable to believe. So, we set out to tell these true stories in a way the world couldn’t ignore. From the farmlands of 1980s Soviet-occupied Georgia, where one man traded his family's beloved bellcow for a pair of 501 jeans. To the docks and dancehalls of 1970s Kingston, Jamaica. Even modern-day California, where one unliving legend not only requested to be buried in his 501 jeans, but requested all funeral-goers wear them too.