What do Levi’s and Mickey Mouse have in common? They’re both American staples.
Levi’s Mickey & Friends collection is the clothing brand’s second Disney collaboration and it’s much different than the first from 2018, which focused on simplistic prints of Mickey Mouse’s face stamped onto denim and cotton. This year’s line-up is brighter and bolder — and the whole gang is invited to play.
The line features jeans, outerwear, T-shirts, and accessories bathed in primary colors, all-over prints, and jumbo graphics with a “Stay Connected” theme featuring retro rotary phones and characters waving hello. The characters are designed in multiple art styles as a nod to their evolution over the years.
Disney collabs — especially those featuring the Mouse — have been done so many times before, so it can’t be easy to come up with something exciting and new, but Levi’s pulls it off by going beyond the one-dimensional Mickey Mouse prints to play with the structure and texture of the clothing in unexpected ways. Some of the pieces — including a puffer vest, a denim jacket, and a sweatshirt — feature a quilted construction that gives the fabric a padded, 3D look. Instead of the typical straight quilted lines, the items are adorned with wavy lines instead.
While some of the patterns are very in-your-face, there are more subtle options for everyday wear that still incorporate the playful detailing. My personal favorite piece is the reversible bomber jacket, which features black-on-black embroidered characters and a white sherpa lining. From a distance, you probably wouldn’t even notice the embroidery, but when you’re up close, you’ll see Mickey and Minnie chatting on the phone on the front chest area, and Donald, Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy waving from behind on the back. You can reverse the jacket to wear it with the white sherpa on display, getting two jackets for the price of one. The sleeves remain black either way you wear it, but in the all-black mode, they feature ruching along the seams (making it look like they are slightly pushed up on your arms), and in the sherpa-mode, they are covered in the wavy, quilted pattern. I’m also partial to the high-rise boyfriend jeans, which are super high-waisted (I’m talking above the belly button) and have a ginormous Minnie Mouse graphic down the right leg (the men’s version features Mickey instead).
My experience with the sizing of the collection overall is that it runs slightly large, but that might be because most of the pieces are unisex, so size down if you’re between sizes. There’s a decent size range in all of the tops, but it’s kind of a bummer that the jeans don’t have much variety for larger sizes. Although Levi’s prices are not cheap, the quality is high and will last you forever.
If you’re a sucker for anything Mickey Mouse, the fandom factor is high here with items that are easy to wear for head-to-toe Disney looks without looking like you came straight out of a cartoon world. The collection is selling out quickly so get it while you can!
