Levi Strauss & Co.’s first denim jeans model marketed specifically for women was called Lady Levi’s.
The introduction reflected a major change in the company’s market. Levi’s trousers had long been associated with men’s workwear, but women increasingly wore denim for practical clothing, leisure, and fashion. A women-focused model allowed the company to adapt its cut and marketing without abandoning its established denim identity.
Lady Levi’s helped establish women’s jeans as a significant part of the Levi’s product range. Later women’s models and lines developed more varied rises, leg shapes, and fashion-oriented fits.
Lady Levi’s is not the same answer as the 701 model or the company’s first women’s jeans line cited in some historical summaries. Those names belong to related but distinct stages of Levi’s women’s denim history.