Dickies is celebrating a birthday.
The Texas-based brand best known for its workwear, is readying a marketing campaign to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its classic 874 chino.
According to Michael Penn, senior vice president of marketing for Dickies, the campaign will “spotlight the workers who may not always receive the applause and recognition they should.”
He said there is an app on the company’s Facebook page where customers can submit their written story, image or video about how they wear their pants and what appeals to them about the product.
“We know there is so much loyalty for the pant out there that we’re excited to hear the latest stories from the folks that wear it day in and day out,” he said. “We plan to share the photos and videos across our social media channels and feature them on different pages of our web site. If we hear a really inspiring story, we look forward to sharing that customer’s content in whichever format serves their story best.”
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The 874 was an evolution of Dickies’ original cotton work pants from the Twenties and incorporated polyester into the fabric to increase durability. Today, it is a 65 percent-35 percent polyester-cotton blend. It retails for $22.99, is offered in more than 100 size variations and over 20 colors in more than 50 countries. Dickies touts them as the world’s bestselling work pants.
For fall, the brand will expand the 874 franchise into a new model, the 874 Flex, that includes lightweight mechanical stretch construction that retains its shape. The model is also softer than the original.
“We knew our customer was ready to make the leap to Flex fabrics, so we’ve created an alternative for the guy that needs more flexibility without sacrificing an ounce of toughness in his work pant,” Penn said.
He expects this iteration to appeal to customers in the “skate and extreme sports scene, and any worker who is doing a lot of bending and stretching on the job.” The Flex will retail for $24.99 and will be sold in the same retail channels as well as on the Dickies web site.