Review of Lager 157’s ”R005” Italian Selvedge Jeans
Jeans from Gällstad, Sweden
Lager 157 is a Swedish clothing brand based in Gällstad, a town made famous by it’s textile industry in the 1900’s. It is located about 120 minutes East of Gothenburg close to the 157 main highway, hence the 157 in the name (Lager means ”stock” in English). The company has stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. It also ships to 19 countries around the world via it’s international e-commerce site.
Lager 157 carry basics for the whole family, everything from overcoats to boxer shorts.
They have a ”Roots” collection of workwear which includes denim shirts, canvas jackets, sweatshirts and T’s.
The range also has four jeans models, all in Italian selvedge denim, two 13oz, one 13 3/4oz and one 15oz.
I chose the R005 model in 13oz denim to review. They are a classic cut with a mid-rise, a straight leg and button fly. At the time of purchase, during a membership campaign, 157 had these jeans at $60 instead of $80.
❝Lager 157 offers a curated collection for denim lovers. ”Roots” which defines the very essence of worker and denim culture with denim from the finest mills in the world❞
- Lager 157
Candiani Denim
The jeans are made in Turkey from a 3x1 right hand twill, classic red-line selvedge. Woven on 60 year old looms by the famous Candiani factory outside of Milan.
Candiani has been producing workwear fabric since 1938 and is legendary in the industry for it’s innovations and developments in the field of fabric production.
The 157 R005 jeans I purchased, 34 Waist x 34 Leg.
Price
What strikes you first about these jeans is the price, all of the four models retail at under $80 (August 2024) which is really competitive for Italian Selvedge in today’s jeans market. The fabric is fairly soft and pliable but does have the texture of raw denim which, given time and limited washes, will develop it’s own unique characteristics.
157’s Quality Guarantee and
price tag
Leather patch and
description tag
Logo stamped buttons
Copper rivets
Back pocket stitching
detail
Back side of buttons
with logo
”Made to fit, Fit to wear”
Candiani Selvedge Denim
Watch Pocket detailing
Waistband logo label
Logo stamped copper rivets
Care label
Details
The detailing on these jeans is pretty good. Lager 157’s ”Factory” logo is stamped into the buttons both front and back and even on the backside of the rivets which is a nice touch. The white metal used in the buttons and the copper riveting is ok, it’s pretty lightweight but it feels robust. It doesn’t feel like anything will fall off after a few wears at least. The leather patch is ok too and there’s some brand detailing; the red stitched dot on the watch pocket and the triangle of stitching on the back pocket, which adds a little uniqueness to the jeans.
A traditional tobacco stitching is used throughout, there’s no roping effect on the hems.
Even though the finishing on the front side of the copper rivets is a little rough, overall this is a solid entry level option for someone wanting to get into raw selvedge.
Comfort
When you put these jeans on for the first time it doesn’t feel like there’s much tapering in the leg, they feel very roomy even though they are more or less the same measurements at the top of the thigh and at the bottom hem as 501 jeans which feel more ”fitted” to me. I bought these in my usual 34 x 34 and even though they are true to size, they’re big in the thigh which means the ass sags quite a bit. (See photos below). As I said though, all in all a decent pair of selvedge jeans.
