Remember that one piece of clothing you built your wardrobe around? What about the trucker jacket you wore every time you stormed out to school, or that pair of 501 jeans you died for when it was damaged beyond repair?
Those moments are what the Live In Levi’s campaign wanted every head to revisit when it held a Philippine launch last Tuesday during a party at 46 McKinley Road in Forbes Park, Makati. Some 500 Levi’s fans attended.
“It sounds so cliché but you make memories out of the jeans you wear,” said Gec Alcid Cajucom, the brand’s marketing manager in the Philippines. “We created Live In Levi’s because we believe that the fans’ stories would have a great input on the standards and the quality of our denim.”
Levi’s country manager Charisse Chua added: “Levi’s jeans is not just something you wear… [but] is something that becomes part of the memorable moments of your lives.”
Ely’s favorite jacket
That night, Ely Buendia revealed that his favorite Levi’s item is a denim jacket he sported at the Eraserheads reunion a couple of years ago. Wendell Garcia, Pupil drummer, has a badly torn (deliberately done, we guess) pair of denim jeans. Model Brent Javier’s favorite outfit, a trucker jacket, is at least 44 years old.
All the items and their respective owners were at the event. The band Pupil, whose favorite Levi’s items were lined up at the entrance, performed originals like the hit “20/20.” American singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira played DJ for an hour, with Mars Miranda and Nix Damn P! also spinning records.
Model-actor John James Uy, a Levi’s campaign ambassador, was likewise at the party, and so were celebrities Raymond Gutierrez, Liz Uy and Mark McMahon, as well as beauty queens Pia Wurtzbach and Queenierich Rehman.
Other people acted like walking fashion statements with their layered, unconventionally cut clothing.
Most popular spot
As if those scenes weren’t enough, there was a mix-your-own cocktails bar, a photo booth, a canvas/tent with a live painting session, and three food trucks out in the front yard just in case people got hungry from all the fist-pumping music.
The most popular spot was the makeshift factory where people could choose a Levi’s icon and apply two modifications, free of charge. It reminded us how ordinary articles can turn into extensions of oneself with a dash of creativity and, well, a sharp object.
We chose a trucker jacket, cut the sleeves and then had the “three stars and a sun” design printed on the back. Believe it or not, an item was ready for pick up after about an hour.
Crowd turnout for the event exceeded expectations. The party went on beyond midnight.
“Essential to Live In Levi’s is the sharing of real-life stories,” Chua said. “It’s all about storytelling in terms of the iconic items. So the stories that people share reinforce the love of our fans and our loyal customers.”
Cajucom told the Inquirer: “We’re hoping to get more stories, more involvement not only from celebrities and brand ambassadors but also from real people.”
Rewards
Levi’s is soliciting more narratives that, like memories from artists, barbers, street performers, musicians and many more, can be featured globally. So, start writing your own recollection and then type “#LiveInLevisPH.” There’ll be rewards, Cajucom said.
We guess we’ll be working on a story around that Tuesday night party, because we’ve never seen that many stars in one place. And we took home a Levi’s outfit to remember it by.