LEVI’S, Wrangler and Lee, the denim brands that put working clothes on the catwalk, are undergoing a makeover in an attempt to restore glitz to their tired image.

Classic jeans are falling victim to fickle tastes, as consumers turn to other fabrics or designer denim, which is often priced in excess of £200.

Levi Strauss & Co, which is 156 years old, suffered declining sales for eight consecutive years until 2005, while Lee and Wrangler, which are owned by America’s VF Corporation, have also experienced stagnant sales.

The “classics” are being squeezed as consumers move either to the high-fashion denim brands or to the low-price generics offered by supermarkets and discount retailers. But an injection of style is helping the classics regain their footing.

Lee has introduced its Gold Label, which is more fashionably cut, with a high waist, and retails for about £100.

Levi’s has brought out Special Edition and Capital E in America, and Blue and Red Wire brands in Europe.

The company is to launch another premium brand, Eco, in November.

Karl Heinz Salzburger, VF’s president of European and Asian operations, told The Times: “The big, historical denim companies have struggled while other sectors, particularly the so-called lifestyle brands such as Diesel, have done well.

“We have entered that business, but with a different perspective because we don’t want to be a clone. We have our own brand image and we are working that heritage and authenticity to give our stores a bit more lifestyle.”

The lifestyle brands, such as Lucky and Guess, have become increasingly popular with brand-obsessed consumers who are willing to pay premium prices for them.

According to research in the United States, 41 per cent of denim buyers are willing to spend a three-figure sum on jeans.

This has hit the mid-priced classics like Levi’s. The company has seen its worldwide sales fall from $6.8 billion (£3.6billion) in 1997 to a low of $4 billion in 2004. European sales have also fallen from $1.8 billion to $1 billion in the same period.

A Levi’s spokesman said: “Sales have been going down but we have addressed that by taking the brand to a more premium position. We are doing this with new lines and by changing our distribution and concentrating more on Levi stores.”

VF hopes that by introducing its own premium lines it will revitalise the Lee and Wrangler brands.

Mr Salzburger said: “From a volume point of view, there will not be big change from going to a high price position, but it will improve our image and that will cascade down to the volume area.”

VF is also considering acquiring smaller lifestyle brands to sit alongside the classics, hoping that the “cool” factor will rub off on Lee and Wrangler.

Like Levi’s, VF has identified a need to expand into the retail sector. Traditional sales through department stores or third-party retailers give the denim makers little control over what brand lines are carried and how they are displayed.

Having their own stores allows these companies to display the brand’s new image in a retail setting both in terms of location — such as Lee’s new store in Carnaby Street in Soho, London — and store design.

VF plans to nearly double its number of stores worldwide by 2009 to about 1,000.

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