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Fashion Brands Making Room For Bigger Phones

Fashion designers are considering making men's and women's jean pockets larger to accommodate bigger smartphones.
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Somewhere, Levi Strauss might be rolling in his grave. 

That's because the durable denim jeans with riveted pockets he designed for hardworking gold miners back in the 1880s have been corrupted for, well, techies.

Thanks to the introduction of the "phablet," the large phone-tablet combination that began to hit markets last year, fashion designers are actually reconsidering the size of men's and women's jean pockets. (Video via CNET)

But the creative fashion juices didn't really start flowing until the epic 24-hour sellout of the iPhone 6 in September, which, according to Apple, was one of "the biggest advancements in iPhone history."

We're not just talking about your basic brands here, either. American Eagle, L.L. Bean, J.Crew and Lees top the list of design houses that are trying to avoid this.

It's a tall — and wide — order, considering phablets are now reaching roughly half a foot in screen size. (Video via The Verge)

But designers are up to the challenge, including even Levi Strauss' legacy, Levi Strauss & Co. Jonathan Cheung, Levi's head of global design, issued a statement saying, "Without being iPhone 6-specific, our mantra, like [Steve Jobs'], will always be to design products that make people's lives a little better."

Maybe old Levi would approve after all. 

This video includes an image from Levi Strauss.