Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

For over a century, Levi’s® 501® jeans were made from denim woven on shuttle looms that created a selvedge finish. Levi Strauss & Co. sourced denim in 1873 for the first 501® jeans from the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester, NH. Around 1915, LS&Co. began sourcing its denim from Cone Mills in Greensboro, NC. But in the 1980s, modern looms eliminated selvedge denim and one of the visible features of vintage Levi’s®.

Join Levi’s® Historian Tracey Panek as she explores the rich history of Levi’s® selvedge denim, the textile mills that created the denim, and the recent refurbishing of a vintage shuttle loom–one of the largest artifacts in our Archives.

If you enjoyed this video, please like and share!

Subscribe to the Levi's® YouTube channel to learn more about Levi's® history.

SUBSCRIBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/levis?sub...

To shop Levi's® visit: levi.com/US/en_US

Connect with us online:
WEBSITE: levi.com/US/en_US
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/levis
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/levis
TIKTOK: tiktok.com/@levis
TWITTER: twitter.com/levis
PINTEREST: pinterest.com/levisbrand