Women won’t buy that because they want to look good in them, physically as well as attitudinally.”So there it stands Frankly, I’m a little offended. But, try on a pair of anti-fits and you will quickly discover that the concept appeal – which is unisex – doesn’t quite translate. In other words: anti-fit jeans look terrible on women.”Levi’s have not been good at women’s products, and they’ve known it, for years” Burrows says “Women simply don’t find 501s a very stylish product. “It took an awful long time to hone that advertising.”And an awful lot of money. The company have spent an estimated £10m on the redesign, and the adverts are the first for the 501 brand in seven years.The resulting campaign – in which two people discuss, in a language which approximates to Spanish (but isn’t), how essential it is to have baggy jeans – is aimed squarely at the “now” generation. The square guy in tight trousers rips his pocket when he tries to put his hand in it.

The other spends a long time explaining to a bouncer outside a smart club why he shouldn’t be allowed in wearing his anti-fits A great concept appeal, for sure. People thought they knew exactly what 501 was, and nobody wanted to wear it anymore because the old 501 had been completely discredited.”Levi’s have therefore had to excite people about the differences in the products, without sticking a knife in the heart of the jeans that made them a fortune. “I think the strategy has worked very well,” says Burrows by way of a verdict. They said cruel things, like “unflattering” and “they give you big thighs” Very big thighs. My vision street credibility was fast gone pear-shaped.So why did one of the world’s most famous brands get revamped? In order to find out you would have to rewind to the late 1980s, and a certain television advertisement campaign in which Nick Kamen stripped down to his undies in a laundrette. Almost overnight, the straight-legged, slightly-tapered at the ankle, slightly high-waisted denim trouser became the ultimate in chic.

Sales sky-rocketed by 800 per cent, and no boy band worth their turn-ups was seen without them. The 501 was a sartorial essential among prepsters, punksters and American pensioners alike And there began the end of the affair. The boy bands became men and started wearing the jeans with shirts instead of T-shirts. Worse, they started tucking the shirts in, and wearing comfortable shoes 501s became a required dress code at dress-down-Fridays. Put it this way: it wasn’t a good look.Levi’s have sought to make the jeans less Jeremy Clarkson (who hasn’t realised his jean-wearing is an exemplar of fashion death) and more symbolic of a time in keeping with the anarchist 1960s, when the jeans were hip.”They have had to attempt to make people think 501s are new and changed without explicitly saying that,” says Dave Burrows, who works at Flamingo International, the company who researches the Levi’s advertising campaigns “It was a very tricky thing. Writing these words sorely disappoints me, because I have no axe to grind with Levi’s I sincerely want the jeans to work I love the engineered ones. But these 501s only work if the effect you are aiming for is hip enhancement Big hips, big legs, narrowish ankles I tried them on in the office, and people laughed at me Outright.