Levi’s is giving a lift to its hometown, San Francisco.

The denim giant is creating an immersive, open-to-the-public 501 Experience opening Friday on the beleaguered city’s historic Skylight on the Armory venue within the Mission District.

As a part of its yearlong celebration of the a hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 501, the activation will highlight the brand’s association with San Francisco, its birth city, with an archival gallery, opportunities for personalisation, a pop-up store, hometown marketplace and more.

The 40,000-square-foot venue will host several installations, bringing the bounty contained within the brand’s archives, housed in its Battery Street headquarters, to the general public.

“It’s the primary of its kind, the most important public display of our archives of 501s ever,” said Chris Jackman, vice chairman of world brand marketing at Levi’s. “It’s going to be really tactile and inspirational. You possibly can sit and hang around and be in it. There are only so many places you’ll be able to sit and feel the brand.”

On display shall be the oldest pair of Levi’s jeans, in addition to denim worn by the Rolling Stones, Lauryn Hill, Leon Bridges, Patti Smith, Damien Hirst, San Francisco gay activist and politician Harvey Milk and Bay Area tech pioneer Steve Jobs.

The pieces will show how the 501 went from Gold Rush-era workwear patented in 1873 to grow to be a canvas for social history, fashion and popular culture, which the brand continues to mine, partnering with K-pop group NewJeans on a spring campaign for the 501, and a concert to be held in Seoul on 501 Day, this Saturday.

To acknowledge the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop, the denim brand has also teamed with Rolling Loud, the primary and largest global hip-hop music festival, as their first global partner. There shall be special Rolling Loud music shows in San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris and London on Saturday as well.

More amusing pieces of Levi’s history may also be on display, including one in every of the famed Levi’s denim-blue AMC Gremlin cars from the Nineteen Seventies, with copper-colored interior stitching, denim pockets with a Levi’s tag, and a Levi’s logo on the fender.

An operational denim loom will let visitors take part in the loom to pattern, cut and stitch experience in a factory space based on the Levi’s Eureka Innovation Lab on the headquarters. There shall be a likelihood to create “Made in San Francisco” 501 jeans using laser customization, wash and arcade finishes, in consultation with Bart Sights, Levi’s production expert. Only 150 pairs shall be created, each hand-numbered.

A denim workshop will offer on-site repairs, and workshops on sustainability, upcycling and denim design from brand partners including Nicole McLaughlin and 625 Industries.

After all, there shall be a pop-up shop, too, featuring all manner of 501s and a few exclusives, in addition to trucker jackets, T-shirts and shorts. The shop can have its own tailor, where visitors can customize latest pieces on the spot. 

One other retail element, a hometown marketplace will offer a curation of local vendors, including Verve Coffee Roaster, Woodshop, Tunnel Records and Humprey Slocombe Ice Cream.

“We had an experience at Art Basel in Miami a couple of years ago, and it was open to the general public with numerous different stations where you possibly can interact with the brand. And a few light bulb moments went off there. As we began to catch up with to ‘The Biggest Story Ever Worn’ campaign that’s out now, a giant a part of that storytelling was coming out of the archives….So all of it got here together and zeroed in on San Francisco,” said Jackman of the genesis for the thought, which follows a trend of open-to-the-public brand activations resembling the Barbie Experience now open in Santa Monica, Louis Vuitton’s “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries” traveling exhibition and more.

San Francisco has been getting a foul rap these days, particularly its downtown, with Nordstrom recently joining a protracted list of shops leaving the neighborhood including Whole Foods, Anthropologie, Saks Off fifth and Coco Republic, citing a scarcity of foot traffic because the pandemic, and unsafe conditions.

“It’s the birthplace of the 501, we never considered doing it elsewhere,” Jackman said. “The goal was to pay homage to the town, to everyone who has touched felt and made the 501 what it’s today. We’re faithful to San Francisco.”

The Levi’s 501 Experience is aimed toward all ages, non-ticketed and free to the general public from Friday to May 27.

Jackman said while this exact experience is not going to travel, the brand is having similar activations in 20 global cities, including London, Seoul and Bangkok.

“The 501 is the blue print for all jeans that followed,” he said. “We felt it was the precise time to rejoice.”

The 12 months of celebrating should repay; Levi’s expects the 501 to generate $800 million in sales this 12 months, a 70 percent increase since before the pandemic.

Levi’s chief executive officer Chip Bergh told WWD last month, “I all the time say, when your most iconic item is cranking — and the 501 is cranking right away — it’s a very good sign for the strength of the brand.”