Aside from being one of the OG streetwear designers, NIGO is also known for his immense stash of cultural artifacts collected over the 50-year-old’s lifetime. A stroll through NIGO’s private workshop will have you walking amongst a multi-million dollar collection of vintage apparel, insane custom jewelry, music memorabilia, and other knick-knacks. Perhaps most impressive is the Japanese designer’s denim archive, which serves as the inspiration for his latest collaboration with Levi’s.
Levi’s and NIGO have teamed up on an extremely limited denim jacket and jeans combo, each piece a replica of one in NIGO’s archive. The 507XX Type II trucker jacket is modeled after the first vintage garment he ever bought, a Levi’s denim jacket from the 1950s obtained in 1986 at the age of 16. The 501XX jeans feature suspender buttons instead of belt loops, modeled after a pair of 501s from 1915. Both pieces were recreated from Japanese denim in a domestic factory and feature all the wear patterns and distressing found on the ones on NIGO’s actual collection.
“I’ve been wearing these garments for 35 years, and now that I think about it, it was a very inexpensive purchase at the time,” says NIGO. “If the person who is going to buy this collaborative garment could wear it for 35 years like I have… that would make me so happy.”
The NIGO x Levi’s capsule collection is a limited edition, 100 pieces total, each individually numbered and packaged in treasure chest-inspired box. They will be available for purchase through the HUMAN MADE online store and on levi.jp starting July 9th. Check out the campaign video above and images below, which feature NIGO and a CGI version of his younger self.
