Design Drool: The Levi's Jeans-Inspired 25Hours Hotel

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Slip into something a little more comfortable -- like your favorite jeans -- at the 25Hours Hotel Frankfort by Levi's.

Since we all pretty much "live" in our favorite jeans, one hotel decided to take the idea literally: With the 25Hours Hotel Frankfort by Levi's, Levi's has created a hotel inspired by the look and feel of the jeans that have been around since the company's founding in 1873 in San Francisco. The hotel, which opened in 2008, is near the new German headquarters for Levi Strauss in Frankfurt, Germany.


In designing the 76 rooms, sculptor Michael Dreher and artist Delphine Buhro tried to answer the question: How did blue jeans impact our lives in the last century? Because just like music, fashion, art and film weren't the same in each decade, neither were blue jeans. In the 1930s, people wore trim, preppy jeans, while in the 1970s, "bells" hung around the ankles.

After researching popular culture of the last several decades, Dreher and Buhro assigned each room to fit into a particular decade and decorated it accordingly. It turned into the ultimate challenge for a designer, since the only thing linking the rooms was the color blue. The only commonality in each of these rooms is the color blue. (There's also a pair of Levi's hanging in each room.)

The result is one really cool hotel. You will never look at a pair of Levi's jeans the same again.

A Room Inspired by the 1980s:
If you were cool in the eighties, it's probably because you sported a preppy look (remember how polo shirt collars had to be flipped up?). Your jeans were probably ironed, extremely tight and stiff to the touch. You might have even tucked in a crisp, white shirt and draped a cable sweater over your shoulders. Prep is reinterpreted in this room with a clean-lined bed, furniture painted true blue and a geometric-pattered carpet. The animal print lampshade is a flash of punk in an otherwise preppy space. The "boom box" -- the 80's iPod or Discman -- is featured in the artwork.


Photo: 25Hours Hotel
A Room Inspired by the 1970s:
An orange starfish design in the rug may be a modern take on orange shag carpeting, but it still screams 1970s. The designers also chose the ornate gold mirror, crocheted pillows and metal bedside lamps are also decorative reminders of the decade. The color, which you can easily imagine on a polyester disco shirt, was no doubt inspired by denim.

If you were putting on a pair of jeans during the time period, you were probably wearing jeans that were loose around the ankles and tight around the wasitline. You probably wore a turtleneck. Or a suede vest. Or a top exposing your midriff. As this room shows, there were no rules i the 70s.




A Room Inspired by the 1960s:
During the 1960s, boundaries were also pushed in terms of social norms and behaviors, and this included the world of design. Check out the white orb-shaped lamp on the desk and the psychedelic carpeting. Funky! The blue walls are a deep denim blue, seen in swimsuit designs and home decor alike from this era. And those chairs? Definitely an example of how radical you could be as a designer during the sixties, which Levi's designers totally picked up on at the time by offering embroidered jeans. (When is that trend going to come back? Huh?)


A Room Inspired by the 1950s:
A jukebox couldn't be more reminiscent of the fifties, a time when sock hops were a regular part of the social calendar. The white chair at the desk looks like molded-plywood, a material that furniture designers like Charles and Ray Eames and Herman Miller began using in the late '40s.

The darker blue chosen for this room's walls is sultry, like a smoky cocktail lounge, but the lighter color screams 50s housewife, since the light blue was a popular choice for everything from dresses to appliances. You might say that jeans were the star of the 1950s. Once people saw James Dean sporting them in "Rebel Without a Cause," they became a symbol of rebellion and everyone had to have them.

A Room Inspired by the 1940s:
The 1940s is often thought of as a classic time in American history -- it was the decade of "Casablanca" and Rita Hayworth, the end of the second World War when baseball was king. And this monochromatic palette of black and white captures the times perfectly.

It was a glamorous time. People wore black and white gowns and tuxedos to balls and parties. Old Hollywood style decor was popular. Photos were taken in black and white, and movies were released in the two colors. Notice: there's no blue in this room -- an ode to the lack of denim during the time period.


For more Design Drools, don't miss:
One Night in Paris at the Seven Hotel
Say Aloha to the Waikiki Edition
The Real Jersey Shore

 

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