Lee honors tough women by replicating its first-ever female jeans

Denim label Lee is honoring its roots by turning the clock back to the 1940s, when it first began making garments for women.

The US label has launched ‘Reissue,' a collection comprising replicas of the first-edition Lee garments ever made for women, which were introduced in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Spanning a jean jacket and denim pants in classic cuts, such as the ‘Ladies Lee Riders,' the ‘Blue Jean' and the ‘Frontier Lady,' the collection remains true to its original designs, from the replication of authentic thread choices, hardware and manufacturing processes. Lee has worked with North Carolina-based firm Cone Denim Mills to recreate the raw and washed denim fabrics used to create the archival pieces.

"These pieces represent a time when Lee took what was made for men and created jeans made specifically for the female body," said Betty Madden, VP of Global Design, Lee. "They were originally designed and worn by what we call the lovely tough girls: the women who were riding horses, working in factories during the war, who were making things happen and looking cool and effortless while doing so. Today's Reissue is still for those same women -- the ones who forge their own path with confidence and grace. The women who don't believe being a tomboy or a girly girl are mutually exclusive -- the lovely tough girls who are still making it happen."

The collection, which is available online and in select stores across Europe and the US, taps into the denim industry's current appetite for nostalgia. Tommy Hilfiger recently launched a limited-edition ‘Tommy Jeans Fall Heritage' collection, comprising 16 of its most iconic archival pieces, revamped and reimagined to resonate with a modern audience. Gap also marked its 50th anniversary this year with two ‘Denim Through the Decades' and ‘1969 Premium' collections inspired by key designs throughout its decades in business.