One thing that so many population don't perceive is that many hippies were in their own way fashion designers. While a true hippie would have never dreamed of joining the "capitalists" and "exploiting the masses" to shop their creations commercially, many of their children have had no qoute doing it.
It was the hippies and flower children that planted the seeds of designer jeans when they took out their scissors and sewing needles and began to experiment on their "Levis". Often the motive for their clothing experimentations was financial necessity, due to the fact that they spent all of their money on pot and had to make do with their clothes.
Hippy Clothes
So much of the clever work that was done on clothes by flower children of that ere is at risk of being forgotten. Of course clothing manufacturers are now scrambling to recreate a lot of what the flower children did with clothing during that era but there is a risk that they will only save what can honestly be reproduced.
Also, because so much of what the hippies did with their jeans was done on "Levis", to remain authentic it has to be reproduced by hand on a pair of Levis. For instance, a hole in a pair of Levis was never "patched" in the general sense of the word. Rather, there was a few ways that it would be covered up.
When a hole was covered up it was all the time done with a color and pattern of fabric that completely contrasted with the light blue color of the faded Levis. Also, there was honestly no rules when face up a hole on a pair of faded Levis, so bead work was often incorporated into the total look when a hole was being covered up.
The Hippie Trend is coming Back in Style