Jeans Sold for 180 Million Won? ... What’s Special About These Jeans Sold at a US Auction?

Buyer is 23-Year-Old Vintage Clothing Dealer Kyle Haupert
Noticed 'Only Product Made by White Workers' Inside Pants

A pair of Levi's jeans made in the 1880s was sold for $76,000 (about 108 million KRW) at an auction in the United States. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bora Lee] According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a pair of jeans was sold for nearly 200 million won at an auction in the United States.

On the 11th (local time), WSJ reported that at a vintage clothing auction held on the 1st in New Mexico, a pair of Levi's jeans made in the 1880s was sold for $76,000 (approximately 108 million won).

WSJ stated, "Levi's jeans produced during this era rarely appear at auctions." In 2018, a pair of Levi's jeans made in 1893 was sold for $100,000 (approximately 140 million won).

The buyer of the jeans was 23-year-old vintage clothing dealer Kyle Haupert. Haupert and Zipper Stevenson, who runs a denim store in Los Angeles, paid 90% and 10% of the winning bid price, respectively. Including insurance fees, the two paid a total of $87,400 (approximately 125 million won).

The jeans they purchased were discovered years ago in an abandoned mine tunnel in the western United States. Candle wax dripped from candles used by miners to light their way is clearly visible on the pants. Inside the jeans, there is also the phrase "The only kind made by white labor."

It is presumed that this phrase was engraved in 1882. At that time, discrimination against Chinese people was severe enough to enact the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese immigration and citizenship acquisition. According to Levi's, the company included the phrase "made by white labor" in its products and advertisements in line with the prevailing sentiment of the time.

WSJ analyzed, "In recent years, the vintage market in the United States has rapidly expanded," adding, "A culture of seeking older and rarer items rather than new ones is gaining popularity among young people."

Meanwhile, the seller of the jeans is known to be vintage clothing collector Britt Eaton. He bought the jeans for $23,000 (approximately 33 million won) from the person who first discovered them in the mine tunnel five years ago. He stated, "Excluding items owned by Levi's, this is undoubtedly the finest early jeans collection in the world."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.