'Tis the season of the fashion collaboration. In the last week alone, Ganni x New Balance launched its latest pair of trainers, super-stylist Harry Lambert (responsible for Harry Styles' best looks) brought us his second collection for Zara and Alexa Chung gave us the perfect autumn wardrobe via Barbour. Rivalling them all, however, is Levi's, which spent last week teasing the world with news of a collab with none other than Beyoncé. Now, it's been revealed that the superstar is, in fact, the new face of the brand, reminding us all of just how great Levi's jeans are.
We should have seen this coming. In the cryptic social media posts uploaded by the brand last week, the spelling of 'Levii's' was clearly a reference to the song Levii's Jeans on Cowboy Carter, the album Beyoncé released earlier this year. Featuring Post Malone, the song attracted much attention at the time, prompting Levi's to change its name and logo on social media, as it added an extra 'i' to match the title. 'FKA [formerly known as] Levi's,' read the brand's Instagram bio, with an extra bee emoji in reference to the Beyhive, Beyoncé's fan club.
Clearly, the brand is making the most of this relationship, recruiting Beyoncé to do more than just sing about the famous jeans. The new global campaign, titled 'REIIMAGINE', is, according to a statement released by Levi's, 'inspired by the legacy of the Levi’s® brand and the forward-thinking vision of one of the most influential figures of modern culture, reaffirming the brand’s enduring place at the center [sic] of culture.' It celebrates classic Levi's looks and films, reimagining the brand's most famous advertisements.
With the video adverts featuring her song, Beyoncé said Levii's Jeans 'celebrates what I believe is the ultimate Americana uniform – something we all wear with pride.' She also spoke of the significance of seeing denim from a woman's perspective: 'I am honored to work with Levi’s to create quintessential American iconography. Denim on denim has often been seen through a male lens, so this reimagining campaign, which celebrates the iconic female perspective, is important to me. I look forward to exploring innovative ways for our visions to align in empowering women and honoring [sic] their strength.'
If anyone can remind us of why Levi's is still the OG when it comes to jeans, it's Beyoncé.
Shop: Beyoncé's Levi's Outfit
www.levi.com
www.levi.com
Hannah Banks-Walker is Grazia's head of fashion commerce. She has previously written for the likes of Harper's Bazaar, The Financial Times, Glamour, Stylist, The Telegraph, Red, i-D and The Pool on everything from fashion to curly hair (hi!) to the patriarchy. Not necessarily in that order. Find her on Instagram and Twitter. But please don't look for her MySpace profile, which until now was the last time she wrote about herself in the third person.