Welcome to Jeans Month on the Strategist, where we’re obsessively vetting denim — from trying on every pair at the Gap to asking dozens of stylish people about their favorite fits. For more, head to our Jeans Month hub.
In honor of Jeans Month, we set out to track down the person responsible for designing one of our favorite, most-stood-behind jeans, the Levi’s Ribcage. Turns out it’s Jill Guenza, who is the Global VP of Women’s Design at Levi’s. Below she shares the vintage styles that inspired the cut and how the Ribcages got their name.
We started developing the Ribcage in 2019. At that time, we were seeing a micro-trend of women who were huge fans of vintage Levi’s and who were buying their jeans a couple of sizes bigger and then really tailoring them to fit their bodies. It was always with a 501, and with a bigger size, you can get that really high rise and then tailor it down to your body. It creates incredible shapes. You get that perfect Levi’s butt and then this kind of slim straight leg.
We loved the way those tailored jeans looked, and we became inspired by what they were doing. We thought, why don’t we deliver this ready-made? So we started with a pair of ’80s 501s, which have some of the highest rises, and then we took a larger size and really tailored it down. We also looked at Levi’s very first pair of jeans for women, the 701s, which had a very, very high rise. So we thought let’s blend those two fits together to create a pair of super-high-rise authentic Levi’s. The tailored-down 501s had this really defined look of a snatched waist and this great straight leg — not too tight, not too loose. It had all the amazing features of a 501 with the antique fit that gives you that perfect butt — we call it a “seat” in fit terms. From there, the Ribcage “top block” was born; that’s what we call the top half of the jean.
When we were envisioning this fit, it was so high that it was almost beyond the natural waist since it’s just below the rib cage — it’s just touching your rib cage versus sitting at your waist. That’s how we came up with the name. It’s sort of like kissing your rib cage. Once we put it on all different body types, we realized this fits so many different people, from curvier figures to those who are a little bit straighter. We found that it was just universally flattering and appealing. We started doing different variations. In our current assortment, we have the Ribcage Straight Ankle, we have the Ribcage Straight that’s full length, we have the Ribcage Wide Leg, and then the Bell, which sort of captures that boot-cut thing that’s happening right now.
We have stretch in almost all of our Ribcage jeans other than the Wide Leg. The reason why we added just that touch of stretch is so that we could allow the jeans to really mold to your body. And what we found when we added the stretch is that it really emphasized all the great features of the jeans. They fit perfectly on the waist and do that lift in the butt while really molding to the body through the hips and the tops of the legs. The fabric gives it a very recognizable Levi’s look where it’s got all that beautiful character and marbling, but the touch of stretch makes it so much more versatile.
In the spring of 2020, when we were launching this fit, the button-fly closure versus the zipper was a risky choice at the time because women weren’t necessarily used to a button fly. But we noticed with this really tall rise, the button fly offers more support but then also looks super-authentic. The button fly is a nod to our heritage and who we are as a brand. When you see it, you think, Oh, that looks sort of like a classic pair of Levi’s. But it also has an amazing fit and this really flattering effect of holding you in the front.
When you’re looking at something that you haven’t seen before, it takes a second for your eye to adjust. I remember back when skinny jeans were dominating and it was all about the low-rise skinny jeans. And then we developed this high-rise super-skinny pair back in the mid-2000s. I remember seeing the first high-rise skinny jeans and thinking, This is weird. We always look for that thing at Levi’s that makes you slightly uncomfortable, because if it makes you uncomfortable, then you know you’re onto something. When we were looking at the Ribcage Straight Ankle and how high it was, we’re like, oh, it’s something unusual and different. Now, the Ribcage remains one of our most popular styles. I would say the 501 family and the Ribcage family are the two most popular fits. The Wedgie is still extremely popular, but it trails closely behind the Ribcage.
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