The 165-year-old denim brand had faded – but it seems to have hit its stride once more, and is reportedly considering going public

Levi Strauss, the world’s most famous denim brand, opened a new flagship store on Friday in Times Square, New York. The 17,000 sq ft store offers on-site tailoring, a T-shirt printer and a mini-museum of the 165-year old brand.

Just a few years ago Levi’s was struggling. Strangled by yoga pants and the rise of “athleisure”, and struggling to compete with cheaper jeans from fast-fashion companies like Uniqlo and H&M, the original blue jeans maker was having an identity crisis. Sales were flat and debts were piling up.

But it appears to have hit its stride once more. Levi’s is reportedly considering going public, raising between $600m and $800m in a share sale that would value the company at upwards of $5bn, according to CNBC.

The company’s rising fortunes have come from embracing its past while accepting the future. According to market analyst NPD, jeans sales rose 5% in the US last year and finally appear to be bouncing back after years of losses to activewear.

Adding stretch materials to denim and offering many more styles has increased sales, especially to women, according to NPD. “Jeans have always offered form, fashion, and function – but now they are offering the comfort today’s consumers want,” said NPD’s Marshal Cohen in a note to clients.

Stretchy jeans are a long way from Levi’s past. Levi Strauss was a Bavarian immigrant who moved to California during the gold rush of the 1840s and 50s to set up a dry goods business selling his wares to gold prospectors. One of his customers, Jacob Davis, a tailor from Nevada, had worked out how to make hard-wearing work pants by using rivets at the points of stress to make them last longer. The two patented the idea and the first pair of Levi’s was born.

Levi’s went public in 1971 but the company foundered and Levi Strauss’s descendants took it private again. Today, the company is privately held by the Haas family – descendants of Levi Strauss and one of California’s most philanthropic families.

The family is worth $3.7bn, according to Forbes, and owns 43% of the company’s shares. Another 200 people, mainly Haas relatives, control the majority of the remaining shares.

While Levi’s is a private company, its bonds are publicly traded and it publishes quarterly reports that show why they are thinking of going public again. The company reported its fourth consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in August with sales rising in the US, Europe and Asia. Last year’s sales were close to $5bn.

The renaissance has come under the stewardship of Charles “Chip” Bergh, a veteran Procter & Gamble executive who launched the Swiffer cleaning brand and used to look after Gillette.

Levi’s was a brand Bergh had grown up with, he told LinkedIn earlier this year. “Here you had this incredible, iconic brand – and yet a company that had really faltered for more than a decade.”

Recent woes haven’t all been about competition from other retailers. Consumers are spending less on apparel overall and more on technology and experiences. Stores like Levi’s new flagship offer consumers an experience as well as a chance to shop. They are also an opportunity for Levi’s to sell its history.

“There is definitely a swing back towards authenticity,” said Bergh. “Millennials and Gen Z would rather have fewer items in their closets that are more versatile have real lasting value,” he said. Bergh said that consumers were beginning to “wise up” to the fact that fast-fashion “is just that. You buy something, it’s cheap, you wear it a few times and you throw it out.”

Krista Corrigan, a retail analyst at Edited, said denim – and Levi’s – were finally emerging from the reign of Lycra. “Since September, there are 20% more jeans in stock than at this same time last year,” she said. “While menswear has remained relatively steady, women’s is a different story – up 30% over last year.”

Levi’s, she noted, was being stocked significantly less at value retailers while growing its business among more fashion-forward retailers. “The success of the Levi’s brand as a whole can be partly attributed to the re-emergence of 90s nostalgia we’re seeing at the moment. There are clear indications over the years that prove denim isn’t going anywhere any time soon.”