Nick Kamen starred in Levi’s 1985 “Laundrette” television advertisement for 501 jeans.
The commercial showed Kamen entering a laundrette and removing his jeans while waiting for a wash cycle. Its deliberately cinematic presentation helped turn a routine laundry scene into one of the best-known fashion advertisements of the 1980s. The advertisement used Marvin Gaye’s recording of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” introducing the song to a new generation of viewers.
Kamen was an English model and singer, and the advertisement significantly increased his public profile. He later released music, including the 1986 single “Each Time You Break My Heart,” which was produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray.
The commercial is often remembered as a Levi’s advertisement generally, but its product focus was the 501 jean. It also belongs to a wider series of Levi’s campaigns that used music, nostalgia and short-film storytelling to position denim as cultural clothing rather than only workwear.