LEVI'S US SOCCER COLLECTION DROPS APRIL 23 WITH KOI

## Denim Before the Whistle: The Bet Levi's Made on April 23 The stadium is empty. No crowd. No referee. No Nike contract in sight. In the campaign film for the Levi's U.S. Soccer Collection, a small crew moves through a deserted American football stadium at dusk, quietly taking over the space as a jumbotron lights up around them. The people doing the taking over are Daniel Buezo and Weleh Dennis, the co-founders of Los Angeles streetwear brand Kids of Immigrants. Two first-generation Americans, children of Honduran and Liberian immigrants respectively, dressed in denim on a pitch that belongs to a different sport entirely. The framing is deliberate. This is not a jersey launch. This is a statement about who soccer in America actually belongs to. The U.S. collection dropped today, April 23, as part of a four-country fanwear rollout that began with Mexico on April 16, with England following on May 7 and France on May 14. The timing puts Levi's directly in the World Cup hype window before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11. Here is the part that matters: the collections were not made in partnership with FIFA, but rather Levi's worked closely with the specific federations to design the capsules as well as the marketing approach. That distinction is not a footnote. It is the whole play. ## Why Levi's Picked Kids of Immigrants Over a USMNT Roster Spot Buezo is co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Kids of Immigrants, a streetwear brand inspired by their roots, environments, and life experiences. He and Weleh Dennis, both first-generation Americans, started Kids of Immigrants in 2016. The origin was a bedroom in Koreatown. Daniel and Weleh built early inventory from thrift store finds, patching overlooked design elements into a cohesive DIY aesthetic built around oversized outerwear and T-shirts. Ten years later, alongside co-founder Weleh Dennis, Daniel has collaborated with brands and artists including Apple, Nike, Vans, and Bad Bunny. That résumé is the reason Levi's called. You do not front a World Cup campaign with a streetwear brand unless you are trying to reach an audience that already treats that brand as a cultural reference point, not a new discovery. The argument Levi's is making with this casting: the next generation of American soccer fans does not look like the 1994 crowd that packed the Rose Bowl. It looks like the communities KOI has spent a decade representing. KOI's first-ever collaboration with a global soccer club came with LAFC in October 2022, released exclusively at the LAFC team store at Banc of California Stadium. That was the proof of concept. The Levi's campaign is the scale-up. ## From 1886 to June 2026: The 140-Year Bet That Finally Pays Off Most people know Levi's as a jeans company. The sport angle is older than the NFL. From outfitting its first employee baseball team in 1886 to designing a kit for the Mexican National Team at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and outfitting U.S. athletes for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the company has long played a role in sport and culture. The 1978 Mexico kit is the historical anchor Levi's keeps returning to, and it is not accidental that Mexico was the first federation to drop in this 2026 cycle. Now Levi's has signed a deal with the national federations of the U.S., Mexico, England, and France to create fanwear tied to the upcoming FIFA World Cup, played across North America beginning in June. The federation collections feature trucker jackets, baggy shorts, and bandanas designed to appeal to lovers and fans of the sport. Prices range from $30 to $190. That price ceiling is important. A $190 denim trucker jacket is not a purchase for someone who buys every kit on drop day. It is a purchase for someone who already owns the Nike match jersey and wants something that reads different at the bar. Levi's CMO Kenny Mitchell framed it plainly: