Wouter from Long John Is on the Podcast to Talk Vintage Denim

In this episode of The Denim & Boots Podcast, I’m joined by Wouter Munnichs from Long John to talk about vintage denim.

Wouter has been collecting vintage denim for +15 years, but his passion for denim goes all the way back to the early 90s when I got a job in the first Diesel store in Holland. He was 17 then.

After his time at Diesel, he started a kids brand called Lvis; helped build a successful streetwear brand; and eventually started consulting for the denim industry.

This interview was recorded at the Bluezone trade show in Munich in February 2020.

How to Identify Vintage Levi’s Jeans

In the FAQ of this episode, I share three ways to identify vintage Levi’s jeans.

#1: Check the outseams

Does the jeans have selvedge edges or not? If they do, they might be vintage.

#2: Check the red tab

Next, you look at the red tab label on the right back pocket. Does it say ‘LEVI’S’ in all capital letters (also known as ‘Big E’) or does it say ‘Levi’s’ with only the L in uppercase?

If there’s a Big E red tab, the jeans might be from before the early 1970s.

3# Check the care tag

The last thing you do is you look at the care label inside. If it’s a big contemporary-looking one with a lot of text on, the jeans are not vintage (but from the LVC collection).

You can read much more about this in the three references I mention:

• 3 Ways to Identify Vintage Levi’s Jeans on the Levi’s Unzipped blog
• Vintage Levi’s 501 Jeans – The Ultimate Collector’s Guide on Heddels
• How to Determine Production Date of Vintage Levi’s 501 Jeans on Rope Dye