Levi Strauss & Co. introduced the orange tab for fashion-oriented denim lines in 1969.
The orange tab helped distinguish newer and more fashion-focused Levi’s products from the company’s traditional red-tab lines. Levi Strauss & Co. used tab colors and other design details as identifiers across different product families, fits, and markets.
The orange tab was not a replacement for every red tab. The red tab remained strongly associated with the company’s classic Levi’s jeans, while the orange tab appeared on selected styles. This makes tab color useful for dating and identifying vintage garments, but it is not by itself a complete authentication test.
The change arrived during a period when jeans were increasingly worn as everyday fashion rather than only as work clothing. New fits, finishes, and branding choices helped denim companies reach younger and broader audiences.