With the introduction of Levi&rsquo;s Behind Every Originals pop-up in Bangkok, historian and archivist Tracey Panek unpacks the brand&rsquo;s rich denim history, remarkable discoveries, and iconic cultural moments.

For more than a century, Levi&rsquo;s has long stood at the intersection of culture and change, evolving from a practical workwear brand to becoming a worldwide fashion staple synonymous with individuality and self-expression. Its legacy, rooted in most of society&rsquo;s pivotal movements, continuously reimagines what denim represents &mdash; particularly for women, whose enduring connection with the label reflects the pursuit of liberation, defiance, and authenticity.&nbsp;
Bringing this spirit to Bangkok, Levi&rsquo;s unveiled Behind Every Original, a world-first immersive pop-up at Parc Paragon in Siam Paragon. Celebrating its Female Originals, the experience showcased archival pieces once worn by cultural icons such as Patti Smith, Shakira, and Beyonc&eacute;, alongside the latest campaign of global ambassador and BLACKPINK member ROS&Eacute;. Through curated spaces and interactive touchpoints, the pop-up unravelled as both a retrospective and a tribute to modern femininity and originality.&nbsp;

At the center of this celebration is Tracey Panek, who has served as Levi&rsquo;s historian and director of its extensive archives since 2014. Known for her rigorous research into the brand&rsquo;s heritage, Panek has dedicated years to persevering and contextualizing rare garments, original prototypes, and historical records that chronicle the evolution of denim. Through her work, Levi&rsquo;s legacy is not only safeguarded but also highlights how the label has consistently empowered women across generations.&nbsp;

In an exclusive interview, Panek shares her perspective on Levi&rsquo;s longstanding history, the cultural impact of its archives, and its enduring role in shaping and advancing women&rsquo;s self-expression through denim.

Can you tell us what brings you to Bangkok today?
I'm here for the Levi's pop-up, right in the heart of the shopping area, and we're celebrating our new campaign, &ldquo;Backstory: Behind Every Original.&rdquo; And really sharing our heritage of women's history in Levi's that goes back almost a century, and then bringing it up to present with some pieces on display that were worn by ROS&Eacute;.
How important is it for Levi's to have a pop-up, specifically in Bangkok?
&nbsp;I think it's very important in this region. It's a lot of energy, young people. Being able to share that with them here in this space, I think, makes a lot of sense.
Do you see different ways people in this region style their denim?
Yeah, I mean, very individual. There's not one single style. But one thing that's interesting is taking a contemporary piece &mdash; a new Levi's piece &mdash; and adding it to something more traditional, which I kind of like, especially for me. My family comes from New Zealand. In fact, I'm wearing a little piece from New Zealand. But it's nice to be able to blend your own identity and style with other classic pieces with Levi&rsquo;s.

Your role at Levi's is quite unique and very important. Could you tell us a bit more about what you do for the company?
So, I'm the historian, which means I do what you might expect a lot of research and writing. I do a lot of fact checking. Partly, my role is to make sure that what we say is authentic &mdash; that we're saying that it is accurate. So, sometimes, I have to let our teams know, &ldquo;We've got the wrong date on that.&rdquo; Whatever it is.
I answer a lot of questions from fans and employees. So, fans will get in touch, they want to ask about a piece that they found in their mother's attic. But most particularly, I spend my time with designers who come in and look at pieces from the archives. They're the biggest users. I always can tell when the next season is coming up because I get the most requests to look for things as inspiration for new pieces.
Levi's has such a storied past, but as you mentioned earlier, women's jeans came later in the form of Lady Levi's. How significant was that moment for the brand?
It was a game-changer, really. In the American West, it made sense. Women in the American West, in particular, are fiercely independent. They, in the United States, were the first area to get the right to vote for women, and people, like my husband's grandmother, learned to drive a car before some men.
So, to be able to introduce Levi's there, where there was a passion for women being independent and individual made sense and helped to pave the way for blue jeans for women that wear them all over the world today.

History of Lady Levi's

Lady Levi's®

What's the archive vault like? What's the process of like acquiring, authenticating, and preserving these historical pieces?
We have a huge collection. We have, in fact, just moved into a new space a few months ago. A bigger space, which I'm very fortunate to have, and we keep probably a thousand boxes of clothing on-site. More than one garment each, along with photographs, marketing pieces, advertising, letters like the letter that Barbara, who found Calico, wrote, we have that in the collection. And the archives, we're always looking for new pieces.
So, new pieces that we create, like new collaborations, but also looking for pieces that are at auction or that people donate, so that we can bring in pieces. And I mentioned how important the stories were in addition to the garments. When I find something, like the women's jacket that I found, that you've got the woman's name, this interesting story about her being probably a pilot, then that's something I go after because I want to add that to our legacy of these women who've been wearing Levi&rsquo;s.
Do you guys actively go online and see what post comes up?
Yes. Don't have time for that, but I'm lucky to have a lot of teams who will say, &ldquo;Tracy, look for it.&rdquo; And that's what happened in this case. It was an employee in December who said, &ldquo;I saw this online at a Goodwill (which is a thrift shop). Check it out.&rdquo; And I did. And I told her when we got it, I said, &ldquo;Oh, thank you for letting me know.&rdquo; And I try to make it a team effort, so employees are always telling me, &ldquo;Hey, did you see that?

What has been the most interesting find that you've found for the archive?
In 2016, I was in London, we were taking pieces to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and I learned about an auction that was happening. It was for a jacket that was a Levi Strauss jacket that had been worn by Albert Einstein that he purchased when he came to the United States.
It was a Levi Strauss jacket, but it wasn't denim. It was leather. The company has made leather pieces since the &lsquo;30s. And before I got the jacket, I was in person at the auction, and ended up winning the piece. And I brought it. This was at the Christie's auction house. I bought the paddle home, and we recreated it in 2018, as part of our Levi's vintage clothing line, and we've done it several times.
So, we've got a men's version, a women's version, and others. But that was totally surprising and one of my favorite pieces. The last thing I'll tell you about it, because as you can see, it's exciting. It has a scent of Albert, of his pipe smoke. He smoked a pipe, and the leather still has the scent of the smoke. Yeah, so when we introduced the reproduction, we sold it with a little bottle of cologne.
So, we got the leather jacket, the little bottle of cologne, and a picture of Albert wearing it because he wore it all the time. He was featured wearing it on the cover, 1938 of TIME Magazine.

Oh, wow. That's history right there.
And it's amazing. And the paddle &mdash; Christie's gave us permission to reproduce the paddle. And on the back side, we told the story.
How do you preserve the smell?
Well. So, I learned the hard way. So, if you would come and visit me in 2017, I would have opened a box. So, we have a box, and we wrap it in muslin, and let you smell it. But now, it needs to be in a non-absorbent case. So, it can't be material.&nbsp;
So, right now, it's on display on a bust, in an acrylic case, because the acrylic doesn't absorb it. So, now, unfortunately, you can't come smell it, but I have the cologne.

Is there one thing that you want to acquire for the archive?&nbsp;
[There are] always pieces. In [Marilyn Monroe&rsquo;s] final film, The Misfits, she wore a pair of Lady Levi&rsquo;s, and really kind of pushed the boundaries of what denim workwear can be. It can actually have a sex appeal, especially, and Marilyn Monroe showed it to us. If I could find and buy the Marilyn, that would be great.

Going back to authenticating, I'm sure there's really a lot of denim in Levi's because of the history.
Correct.
Can you take us through the authentication process?
If I buy anything, I always have to see it in person. I'll see something that's overseas. And I'll see it in a picture, and I'll say, &ldquo;Yes, I would like to buy it. But before I buy it, you need to send it to me. And if I can authenticate it, then I'll buy it.&rdquo; And I learned this the hard way.
Has there ever been an instance where the sale didn't go through?
Yes.
And yeah, I'll just keep it at that. I'm very careful now about making sure that I see something in person and make sure I can look at things, like not only the buttons, but the rivets.
Originally, the denim had a rivet right here, and the branding on the rivet, I can tell what era it's from, depending on the brand. Things like those kinds of details that I look at, I can tell if it's real or not.

My next question would be, why do you think vintage denim could be used to resonate with the younger generation?
I think that the idea of authenticity &mdash; of having tradition and heritage &mdash; all of that &mdash; is part of it. I'll tell you that this year, Bob Weir, who was one of the guitarists from the Grateful Dead, a band that came out of San Francisco during the Summer of Love. And he famously wore Levi's when he played the guitar in the band, and we interviewed him a couple of years ago for an Archives YouTube segment we did. And he said, &ldquo;I bought my first pair of Levi's in the seventh grade. They were the real thing.&rdquo;
Some people gravitate toward the real thing, others toward close enough. But when I see someone wearing Levi's, I know they have a sense of tradition and heritage, and I think that young people appreciate that. I think they appreciate something that has a story and a background. So, it's more than a piece of garment, it's a piece of history. It can be a piece of cultural history. Yeah.
We've been seeing so many classic styles come back recently. From your perspective, how has fashion evolved over the years? And how much do current trends influence Levi's collection today?
So, one thing that's important about Levi's is that we began with a riveted denim blue jean, and we haven't changed the basis of what that is. It's denim, it's rivets. The 501 still has a button fly that we had on the original. Some changes, but we don't change the basic aesthetic. So, we might have a flare, or maybe we will have a lighter-weight denim, but we stick to what we've done, so people recognize it because the main elements remain the same, and I think that's what's been important about us being still relevant to them.

Levi's Interview with Bob Weir

From the Levi's® Archives: Denim & The Dead: Bob Weir

Levi's has had such a monumental cultural impact across generations. In today's era of social media and the younger generation, where do you see the brand now?
Oh, I think, actually, social media has made it easier to tell our stories, and I'll share one from last year. So, I got a word that an auction was coming up for Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who wore Levi's, famously. And his very famous 501s &mdash; Levi's 501s &mdash; came up for auction, so I got approval to bid. Well, I lost the bid. They went for almost $500,000.
Wow.
They went for almost $500,000, and I was on with my boss, and I said, &ldquo;You got to tell me yes or no.&rdquo; We ended up not getting it, but I ended up working with the person who bought them. He was a private collector in New York, and he loaned us the Levi's for a year, and we did some social media.
I examined the Levi's with the owner. We talked about their relevance as the ultimate look of somebody who was a grunge &mdash; the grunge movement. Some shredded, patched-up Levi's, the same way that Kurt Cobain could have worn them, and the video went viral. So, I still have people who say, &ldquo;Oh, are you the person who tell me that?&rdquo;
I think that social media has allowed us to tell our stories in a new way to connect with young people, who might not have known about some of those interesting cultural moments.

 Kurt Cobain’s Levi’s® 501® Jeans

From the Levi’s® Archives: Kurt Cobain’s Levi’s® 501® Jeans, The Most Expensive Jeans in the World

Okay, my last question is how often should you wash your denim?
Oh, I don't wash. You don't really have to. I'll tell you, when I met a man who was a professional bull rider, we ended up getting his jacket. It took a long time, but he ended up donating his jacket, which was just torn and shredded. He didn't want to give it away because he said it was his best friend. But he told me he never washed it because it got kind of slick, and it made it easier to stick on the bull.
Now, you and I aren't going to go riding on a bull.
Yeah.
But you can spot clean when you need to. They don't really need to be washed at all.
Yeah.
When I had my first Levi's, they were shrink-to-fit, which meant in high school in the &lsquo;80s, you would buy them big. And then it shrinks, and it fits you perfectly. Now you have pre-shrunk denim, so you don't have to do that. You can spot that, so I would say you rarely have to.
Okay, I love that. Thank you so much!

Behind the Archives: Tracey Panek on Levi’s Enduring Legacy

Recommended posts for you

Fashion

Behind the Archives: Tracey Panek on Levi’s Enduring Legacy

Beauty

Balenciaga Revisits Its Past With the Le Dix Fragrance Collection

Hommes

Donald Glover Cracks the Leather Pants Code at 'Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Premiere

Hommes

These New Watch Releases Are Setting the Tone for What Comes Next

Hommes

Jimmy Choo Reworks Its Menswear With Sandra Choi and Poggy

Hommes

The How-To Guide for Men in Ballet Flats

Hommes

Cargo Shorts Get a High-Fashion Reboot for Spring/Summer 2026

Culture

Opulence Design Concept Honors Women Who Shape Spaces and Societies