Levi’s Commuter Series Minneapolis Launch

Minneapolis has become a favorite cycling destination of mine—over the years I’ve made a number of friends in town that manage to get me in just enough trouble to keep it interesting, and out of jail. In town for Stupor Bowl XV and whatever I could get myself into, a few emails later and I found myself having dinner at Haute Dish, witnessing beer willing poured all over Gene Oberpriller’s pants while we discussed nanosphere technology and what kind of underwear each preferred. And while this did truly occur and isn’t surprising given the company, there was grown up business at hand, namely the launch of the Levi’s Commuter Series in the Minneapolis area and the limited Car-r-Coffins, One on One Bicycle Studio, and ARTCRANK trucker jackets to match along the same lines as the first batch created last September. Tech was talked, designs discussed. Custom altered jackets of some of the more prominent Minneapolis cycling culture brands will exist soon enough. The Levi’s fabric purports to be the first natural fiber to incorporate this particular Nanosphere waterproofing technology, maintaining its water repellency longer than ever without any sort of plastic bag feeling—50+ full wash/dry cycles under relatively harsh test conditions. The beer testing on Gene’s well worn Levis pants beaded up and ran right off onto the floor. Being Stupor Bowl weekend, we ended up out too late.

Look for the Levi’s Commuters to make their Minneapolis retail premier in the coming months, with the custom art jackets showing up on the backs of a lucky few associated with the Minneapolis legends behind the brands. No matter what you may personally think about the skinny jeans and denim jacket style, the fact that a company the size of Levi’s is taking urban cycling style and tech seriously bodes well for all involved, from the business side to the everyday rider all benefitting from the further mainstreaming and legitimization of cycling as more than quaint sport.