Levi’s releases crotchless denim chaps ‘inspired by the resilience and beauty’ of the LGBT+ community for Pride
The 100 percent cotton assless chaps are not gendered. (Levi’s)
Levi’s has released a pair of denim chaps for Pride Month which are apparently “inspired by the resilience and beauty” of the LGBT+ community.
The Pride offering is described as a “classic Levi’s silhouette, reimagined as a pair of unapologetically bold chaps”.
Retailing at £95, the chaps come in a special shade of “Pride stonewash denim”. Your guess as is good as ours.
On Twitter, reaction to the chaps was one of general bemusement.
Levi’s is selling chaps for Pride, I’m… pic.twitter.com/Wwt4Wd0R4C
— Ja’Crispy (@MrLuisWatkins) May 13, 2020
Did Levi's really think they're being quirky for putting out ass less denim chaps for pride? Like, who said YES?!— James ? (@Jamrosa17) May 12, 2020
The chaps form part of Levi’s Pride Month campaign, “Use Your Voice”, which is a collaboration with the decade-long photography project Self Evident Truths by iO Tillett Wright.
Tillett Wright’s project aims to document 10,000 people who identify as anything other than 100 percent straight for his Self Evident Truths project.
Levi’s said the project is “a celebration of our differences and a showcase of our shared humanity… a pinnacle example of how just one voice can raise tens of thousands”.
The Levi’s Pride Month collection has been photographed by Tillett Wright on “real people”, and is “inspired by the resilience and beauty of a community continually speaking up in the face of institutional injustice”.
(Levi’s)
As well as the chaps, the collection features denim jackets and shorts tie-dyed in the colour of the trans Pride flag, and rainbow t-shirts, socks and boxer briefs.
None of the items in the Pride collection are gendered.
All of the net proceeds from the Use Your Voice campaign will be given to the LGBT+ human rights organisation OutRight Action International for the second year in a row.
The organisation works to research, defend and advance LGBT+ human rights globally, and is the only LGBT+ organisation with a permanent presence to advocate at the UN headquarters in New York.
(Levi’s)
This year, Levi’s launched a Pride project in Russia, a country that is known for being hostile towards the LGBT+ community.
The brand partnered with Russian queer culture magazine O-Zine, worked to distribute Pride merchandise to Russian influencers, and helped the magazine create a series of videos on the experiences of LGBT+ people in Russia.
