They are the quintessentially American fashion item, but heading up Levi's European design team is an Irishman, writes Deirdre McQuillan
There's not much that Dubliner Jonathan Kirby doesn't know about denim. History, innovation, facts and figures are all at his fingertips, and he can ventilate eloquently and passionately about carrot legs, dropped crotches and 1890 Nevada jeans (purchased on eBay by Levi's for $46,532 in 2001). Creative director of Levi's in Brussels, he is head of a 10-strong design team overseeing design production for all Levi's lines from vintage to their premium Red Tab and is in the forefront of worldwide research and development.
"At Levi's you are playing with so much heritage and history, there are rules and guidelines to work with," he says. "Everything comes from the archive and once you respect that it becomes so much more exciting."
Drawing from a history that goes back 157 years, Kirby loves working from antique pieces. "They are beautiful, intricate and quite romantic because there's a story that goes with them. The company had a lot of interaction with the public and people would write to tell them what happened to them in their jeans. There was a man working on a skyscraper in New York who fell and was saved by his jacket - it kept him in place. There are so many stories like that which are just fantastic."
Apart from reawakening and reinterpreting classics, his team work on future blueprints and new ways of engineering denim. "We watch how patterns change and evolve, the different ways to cut a pair of jeans. How to cut them so they stack and fall on the body - we call the new cut in Red Tab the O leg.
"The Red premium product is the second most expensive jean at €250. It goes back to the old technology and craftsmanship and these are the things you enjoy working with because you go backwards to go forwards."
From Portmarnock, Kirby studied menswear design in Manchester and did his MA in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, where he was tutored by the famously demanding course director Louise Wilson. He graduated in 2001. At the time he was one of only three studying menswear, rather than the more popular womenswear.
"Now it's 50/50. The menswear sector is more in demand and more exciting now than womenswear. It's setting trends," he argues.
After graduation, he moved to Italy to work for Moschino in Milan. His career in denim began in Bologna, starting a small denim label and working freelance for GStar; in no time he was head of menswear at Lee, and before long he was hired by Levi's.
"When they interviewed me for the job [as senior designer in the UK], I said if I didn't get it, I'd keep on applying until I did. They were so surprised that I got the job straightaway," he says. "I couldn't work for a brand that doesn't have integrity. You can get obsessed about denim, especially the vintages, and people do. There's a huge global market for vintage jeans, and professional collectors have made millions from them."
Two and half years ago he was promoted to director of design and moved from London to Brussels. His move coincided with a reversal in Levi's declining sales. With the launch of its Signature line for women in the US, the company was able to reverse an eight-year downturn. Kirby explains that LA brands for women, brands such as Seven and others, "gave women the fit they wanted and made them feel sexy - and that had been neglected. That started the premium sector for women and that relaunch of a whole new portfolio for women by Levi's three years ago put new fits on the market."
In Ireland the company is currently looking for suitable premises off Grafton Street to open a flagship store by the end of this year. As for future developments: "We are currently looking at grey, mixing grey with blue, there's a lot of black and a lot of mid-grey, along with strong colours such as red, green and bright yellow. A lot of influences come from festivals. We watch how people wear things and mix and match - it's very fresh. In Japan dressing up for festivals is like dressing for the Oscars."
Last November, the company launched their first eco-jeans, made in Hungary from organic cotton denim with a finish produced from potato starch, mimosa flower and Marseilles soap.
"The tint techniques come from the soil," says Kirby, who adds that Levi's are currently researching fair trade. When we met he was dressed from head to toe in black, wearing Red Tab jeans made in Japan from hemp because they're softer. But he still has all the Levi's he grew up with, vintage reminders of a long-held childhood ambition. "I always wanted to work for Levi's and I will work for them for the rest of my life."
Jonathan Kirby will be speaking at the Fitzwilliam Hotel at 6pm on Monday, August 27th as part of Motorola Dublin Fashion Week (tickets cost €5, available on the door)