Measure for measure: jeans get a custom-made code

Glenda Cooper reports on the new jeans-by-computer look for British women

Any woman who has walked up and down the high street in search of a pair of jeans that stays up without belt and braces, or doesn't require an excruciating squeezing session to do up, will welcome the latest marketing move by Levi Strauss, the US jeans manufacturers.

In what is thought to be the first project of its kind in Europe, women can order customised denims, as Levi's pilot a "Personal Pair" scheme in their flagship store in Regent Street, London, and in Sheffield. Shoppers will be able to walk into the stores and be measured for a pair of personally tailored jeans.

This is not a venture into the world of haute couture for Levi's, but rather a marketing concept known as "mass customisation". Under the scheme, a woman's measurements, name and address are fed into a computer. Customers then try on jeans from Levi's pool of more than 300 prototypes. The measurements are then amended to ensure a perfect fit.

The process should take around 20 minutes. The customer's details are sent to the Levi factory in Belgium, where computer-controlled tools precision cut the jeans, and stitch an individual barcode inside. The jeans are then sewn and washed, identified by the code and shipped to the customer's home or to the shop where they were bought. The whole process should take around 21 days. But there is a premium - the tailored jeans will cost pounds 65 compared to pounds 46 for a standard pair.

If the scheme proves as popular here as it has in the United States and Canada, Levi's will consider offering the service across Europe, and extending it to include men.

But the fashion sceptics are not enthusiastic. "If I was being unkind I would say it was a gimmick," said Eric Musgrove, associate publisher of FW Magazine (formerly Fashion Weekly).

"If I was being kind I would say this was just an extreme example of giving good service to jeanswear customers."

Mr Musgrove sees the scheme as part of a wider trend where jeans companies offer a range of fits and leg lengths, as well as cuts specifically for women: "In the last three or four years there has been much greater awareness that you can't get young women to buy men's baggy jeans, particularly as a much slimmer look has come into fashion.

"Historically and socially jeans have come a long way. Gianni Versace now has a line called Jeans Couture, which is a contradiction in terms. Jeans are acceptable in virtually any social situation, and that is reflected in the price. They can cost in excess of pounds 45 to pounds 50."

But he was unsure that the Personal Pair scheme would catch on in a big way: "I think it is for women with odd body shapes," he said.