Reuse in focus at Nordstrom x Levi’s pop-up

Dive Brief:

With an emphasis on sustainability and reuse, Nordstrom and Levi's are partnering on limited pop-up shops in nine Nordstrom stores and online, with exclusive collections from Collina Strada, Melody Ehsani and Thompson Street Studio, plus Levi's Authorized Vintage and Red labels.
Collina Strada used "garments already in circulation" in her designs, and Thompson Street Studio's Kiva Motnyk used denim scraps to create clothing and home goods, for example. Items from the Authorized Vintage collection are "reworked pieces from the past," per a Nordstrom blog post.
The pop-up launched Sept. 17 and runs through Oct. 17, and will also feature accessories, candles and home decor from other emerging and upcoming brands including A Bronze Age, DMC, Kishmish, Machete, Maria La Rosa, Meji Meji, Primecut, Recreation Center, Rit and Siizu.

Dive Insight:

Nordstrom has adopted the pop-up as a key element of its merchandising, a way to partner with emerging designers and DTC brands, or, as in this case, to highlight its relationship with beloved established labels.

"I have long admired [Levi's] strong brand heritage and we are proud to use this partnership as a platform for emerging, female-led brands like Collina Strada, Melody Ehsani, and Thompson Street Studio to express their distinct points of view by creating unique pieces that we know the Nordstrom customer will love," Olivia Kim, Nordstrom vice president of creative projects and home, said in a statement.

Levi's is leaning into sustainability beyond this pop-up. Chief Operations Officer Liz O'Neill recently touted the long-lasting quality of a pair of Levi's denim jeans as "the antithesis of fast fashion." Paul Dillinger, head of global product innovation, previously said that, at the same time, making clothes that the wearer values for years may be more essential than trumpeting how ecologically correct a garment is.

The collaboration also underscores how choosey some brands can be when it comes to selling through department stores. Levi's, like many brands, is increasingly selling directly to customers online and through its own stores and moving away from department store sales.

Third-party retailers themselves therefore increasingly need a strong brand of their own in order to past muster with popular labels like Levi's. The storied denim brand has enjoyed a surge in popularly in recent years, and earlier this year also partnered with Target on a limited collection of 100 home, pet, accessories and apparel products. A year ago, Target also expanded its assortment of Red Tab Levi's into more stores after introducing the higher-end jeans the year before.