Levi’s Looks to Japan for Its Best Collection in Decades

Even Levi’s knows the best denim comes from Japan.

Blue denim jeans with faded whiskering and a button fly on a red background.Levi’s

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Levi’s Blue Tab is one of the most intriguing moves made by the king of American denim in a long time.

While the brand is no stranger to working with Japanese denim, the new collection offers the first permanent, readily available assortment of Japanese fabrics and Japanese manufacturing.

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Dark blue denim jacket with a classic collar, silver buttons, and two chest pockets with button flaps. The inside label reads "Levi Strauss & Co." and indicates the jacket is made in Japan, size M.
Levi’s Blue Tab collection features some of the brand’s most iconic designs, presented with elevated construction.
Levi’s

Debuting in April of 2025, Blue Tab consists of small seasonal collections built around Japanese reinterpretations of twentieth-century American workwear. Notably, only a small portion of each collection is actually manufactured in Japan.

The foundation of the collection, of course, is the jeans. Blue Tab offers several of Levi’s most popular cuts, manufactured in Japan using denim from Kaihara, one of the oldest and most respected mills in the country.

Kaihara worked with the Blue Tab design team to create a new denim exclusively for the collection, aiming to replicate it as closely as possible to surviving mid-century examples.

Close-up of dark blue Levi's jeans back pocket with yellow stitching and a leather Levi Strauss & Co. patch.
Levi’s Blue Tab has a new logo patch with the brand logo over the Japanese flag.
Levi’s

The standout example of the Blue Tab Fall/Winter 2025 collection is the Made in Japan 1980 501s. It combines the fit and feel of highly coveted vintage jeans with the Japanese craftsmanship that has long been the gold standard of denim production.

Dark blue straight-leg jeans with a cuffed hem, worn with black leather loafers and a white shirt. The jeans have visible stitching and a classic five-pocket design.Levi’s

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Levi’s Blue Tab Made in Japan 1980s 501 Jeans