But as much as Japanese consumers loved Levi’s 501s in the abstract, the official pairs available from local retailers did not live up to the legend. A Men’s Club’s jeans guide from the late 1980s noted, “The famed traditional Levi’s 501, Lee 200, and Wrangler 13MWZ have changed quite a bit in terms of quality. For example, they are economizing on the dyeing process and using cheaper open-end spinning.
