By Jennifer Williams
Levi Strauss has its sights on both high-end and budget-conscious shoppers as it aims to sell more denim.
The company is rolling out one of its most premium lines of apparel yet with the launch of Blue Tab jeans, jackets and more that can retail for over $350, some of the highest prices for the brand's own clothing. The plan is to appeal to more premium shoppers while filling a gap in the brand's offerings. But unlike others that have pulled products out of lower-priced retailers to elevate their brands, Levi's aims to be more luxe while also selling denim for as low as roughly $20 in mass-market stores.
"The question was, 'There is a premium layer, should we tap in to it?'" said Levi's Chief Financial Officer Harmit Singh. Once executives decided the answer was yes, "we said, 'OK, let's expand our addressable market,'" he said. The higher-end Blue Tab offerings, a nod to the color of the label affixed to the clothing, complement the iconic Red Tab apparel that often retails for under $100 as well as the lower-cost Signature line sold in chains such as Walmart.
The key with the more elevated line is retaining credibility whether shoppers are looking for value or to spend hundreds of dollars on denim. "We don't take anything for granted," Singh said. "We have to earn [consumers'] trust on a more frequent basis."
Levi's, best known for its denim jackets and classic 501 and 511 jeans, has been working to be seen as more than denim pants, expanding its apparel with items such as tank tops, button-up shirts and dresses. The premium offerings are part of the brand's goal to take up a bigger portion of shoppers' closets.
The brand isn't new to the higher-end space: Collaborations in recent years include those with luxury brands Kenzo and Miu Miu. Blue Tab, launched in Asia earlier this year before an April release in the U.S., brings Japanese-inspired denim jackets and pants, as well as T-shirts and blouses, under Levi's own brand. Blue Tab products are currently in 14 U.S. stores and nine in Europe.
"As we think about '26, that's where we're going to bring it to more scale," Singh said. "We think over time, this can be a nice growth builder for the company." Executives haven't shared targets for Blue Tab sales or store count.
Brands like Tapestry-owned Coach and Ralph Lauren have worked to be viewed as more upscale. Part of the strategy has meant pulling the brand's labels out of certain retailers. Ralph Lauren in recent years has, among other moves, focused its product assortment on items with higher price tags and significantly cut the amount of inventory sent to department stores and discount chains such as T.J. Maxx.
Levi's has done some of this too, exiting from its Denizen fashion line sold at Target to focus more on the core Levi's brand. With Blue Tab, Levi's executives aim to reach shoppers willing to spend more on clothing, but the push to be perceived as more elevated won't come at the expense of its other lower-priced clothing, according to Singh.
"There will always be a place for Signature," the CFO said of the brand's mass-market line. Signature sales were up 21% for the three months ended Aug. 31 compared with a year earlier. Overall sales were up 7%.
The strategy to be both high-end and affordable can be tricky, according to analysts. Levi's has to sell straight-leg jeans from the Blue Tab line for around $270 and a similar cut from Signature for $24 without confusing shoppers. Levi's can do it, the analysts said.
"What's important is to segment properly," meaning ensuring that shoppers see the difference in the brands, said Bob Drbul, a consumer retail analyst at financial services firm BTIG. The push for growth and a wider consumer base should be slow to avoid ending up with extra high-end inventory that has to be discounted, he said. "But this is such a strong brand with broad appeal that the Signature product that's in Walmart is seen as different from the Blue Tab that's different from the Red Tab."
Write to Jennifer Williams at jennifer.williams@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2025 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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