Michael Allen Harris isn’t your typical businessman. This adventure-seeking entrepreneur has come up with a bold new way to earn money: he “mines” vintage denim and sells them to collectors for a profit.
As first reported by TheGuardian, Harris began his venture by collecting scraps of old denim that were scattered across the blistering-hot deserts of the Southwest. Harris would travel to California, Nevada and Arizona alongside his father-in-law, whom was a geologist. While his father would collect samples of rocks and survey landscapes, Harris was busy collecting worn and battered pieces of denim.
You might be wondering why Harris — or anyone for that matter — would actively seek out pieces of worn and damaged denim. After all, can’t you just buy new denim at your local apparel store? Harris didn’t just uncover any type of denim. The denim he found was some of the oldest specimens in the world, often dating back well over a century. You have to remember that the Southwest was an area characterized by the Gold Rush back then. During this time, Levi Strauss would sell his jeans and other equipment to the miners here.
Just how much money are these early-model Levi jeans worth? In his interview, Harris said he recently sold a pair for $30,000. He also claimed to have received an offer of $100,000. Now those are some expensive jeans!
Digging up the old vintage denim is easy the part. It’s finding a buyer that’s difficult. After placing several pieces up for sale on eBay, Harris eventually came into contact with a Japanese collector. Harris sold the collector a vintage jacket that he had unearthed for $1,000, which he thought was a good deal at the time. Harris said he later regretted the decision, however, realizing that the jacket was worth far more.
“A few years ago, my father-in-law dug up the holy grail: the oldest pair of Levi’s from 1873, the first year they were manufactured. I wish we could keep them for our personal archives, but recently I had an offer of about $100,000. My father-in-law doesn’t want to sell them and neither do I, but I have two daughters to put through college, so they might have to go,” said Harris in an interview with TheGuardian.
