As a counterpoint to the brand’s rugged target market, Lee later unveiled Buddy Lee – a cute and mischievous ceramic doll – as its company’s own iconic mascot. Buddy continued to appear in Lee advertisements for decades to come, perpetually evolving his attire to reflect the style of the era. When cowboy fashion exploded in the mid 1930s, sales of Lee’s Storm Rider jackets and Riders jeans skyrocketed, bolstering the company’s market position significantly. A decade later Lee acknowledged women’s major role in the workforce during the war by introducing their range of Lady Lee Riders, befitting the feminine form. At the time the notion of women in working pants was revolutionary, and foretold an imminent era of emancipation. By the time the fifties rock ‘n rolled around H.D. Lee & Co. had started tailoring more casual and refined lines, suitably labelled ‘Leesures’. New colours and styles also arrived in the form of the dressy ‘Lee Westerner’, as Lee extended its operations beyond the U.S.A. with branches in Brazil, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Scotland and Hong Kong. This expansion continued throughout the sixties, with an increasing focus on youth markets. The company’s centennial year coincided with the early eighties obsession with stonewashed jeans, and Lee’s designers and engineers spent millions of dollars a year experimenting with shredded car tyres, golf balls, bottle caps, rope, wood and even volcanic pumice... all in the name of creating the perfect stonewash look. In recent years Lee has defied its image as a conservative jeans brand and has become renowned for its understated edginess. Lee is rapidly gaining marketshare in the U.K, Australia and South Africa, once again adapting to the style demands of an entirely new generation. Today the brand is synonymous with the Skinny Jean, and their range of colourful skinnies is defining the look of our age. But it’s a sense of heritage that really makes the brand stand out. Despite a more contemporary feel, Lee still remains true to its roots as a Kansas-based workwear brand. Here’s to another 120 years of classic denim...
one small seed
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