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1880s Levi’s jeans found in abandoned mine shaft sold for $87,000
The jeans were discovered about five years ago by a “denim archeologist"
October 14, 2022 8:56pm
Updated: October 14, 2022 8:56pm
A pair of Levi’s jeans from the 19th century that were found in an abandoned mine shaft was sold at an auction in New Mexico for more than $87,000.
The jeans were bought by vintage clothing collectors 23-year-old Kyle Hautner and Zip Stevenson for $87,400, one of the highest prices ever paid for a pair of jeans.
"We didn't have any plans to buy the jeans together until the auction started, which is kind of insane looking back on it," Stevenson said.
"These jeans are extremely rare -- especially in this fantastic worn condition and size," Stevenson, who runs a denim repair shop in Los Angeles, added.
Stevenson explained that he first heard about the jeans "about five years ago when they were first discovered” by Michael Harris, a “denim archeologist.” Harris has explored at least 50 abandoned mines over the past five years in search of denim.
According to the buyers, the Levi’s sold at the auction are extremely rare. There are only very few similar pairs in existence and they are not as well preserved as the pair bought by Hautner and Stevenson.
This pair, however, "are surprisingly durable, so they definitely can be worn," unlike the other existing pairs that are kept in museums and are too delicate to wear, Stevenson told CNN.
The auction took place at the Durango Vintage Festivus near the small town of Aztec. Birt Eaton, who puts on the festival, said he didn’t originally intend to sell the jeans and that’s why he priced them so high. Yet he wasn’t surprised that they were sold because of their rarity.
Hautner and Stevenson’s new jeans are not only a well-preserved pair of old Levi’s, but they are also historical and mark a dark episode in the country’s history. Inside a pocket, the jeans have a label that says “The only kind made by White Labor.”
The company used the slogan after the introduction of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 when the U.S. barred Chinese laborers from entering the country, a Levi’s spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. The company dropped the slogan in the 1890s.
