The 2015 LS&Co. Denim Academy Awards

The buzz surrounding the 87^th Annual Academy Awards is reaching a fever pitch, but denim has been making star-studded onscreen appearances for decades — spanning from James Dean’s captivating performance in Rebel Without A Cause right up to this year’s big winners. In anticipation of the big event, we think its only fitting to present our first-ever LS&Co. Denim Academy Awards honoring the silver-screen moments we think are worthy of a denim-clad Oscar statue.

Ready the ice buckets and pop the champagne. No need to put on your sequins for this one — Levi’s will do.

And the Denim Oscar goes to…

BEST BLUE JEAN BRAWL

Heath Ledger And Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain

For tortured cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, it was a fine line between love and hate. The two got their Levi’s all tangled in this epic brawl, which begins with playful horsing around and transforms into an expression of the difficulty of their situation, and Ennis’s reluctance to commit to Jack.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN JEANS

Billy Crudup – Almost Famous

Stillwater’s guitarist Russell Hammond gave the performance of a lifetime with a rant that not only captivated and warranted applause from the audience off-screen, but from those standing underneath him. The grand finale? A daring leap from a rooftop into the pool below. Do not try this at home.

BEST DENIM-CLAD ROMANCE

Kristin Stewart/Robert Pattinson — Twilight

The entire film is shot through an indigo-colored lens, and Bella and Edward’s blue jeans are the perfect durable attire for a thrilling flight through the forest followed by a romantic moment in the treetops.

MOST CREATIVE GETAWAY IN JEANS—TO THE BEST SOUNDTRACK

Eddie Murphy – Beverly Hills Cop

We all know that denim has endured thanks to continual innovation. Axel Foley knows he’s being followed by the detectives and sticks bananas in their car’s tail pipe to slow them down. Now that’s creativity! Throughout the film, Foley’s standby denim uniform emphasizes his opposition to the stodgy Beverly Hills Detectives.

BIGGEST BULLY IN A JEAN JACKET

Judd Nelson – The Breakfast Club

Five students, five different cliques. In John Hughes’ cult-classic, the ‘brat pack’ reports to detention, including the rebellious criminal in the bunch, John Bender. Like the others in the movie, Bender’s bad boy stereotype breaks in the film, earning him an unforgettable kiss from Claire — and a diamond earring, to boot.

BEST DRIVING IN DENIM

Michael J. Fox – Back to the Future 

Marty McFly puts the pedal to the metal — donning a denim tuxedo, no less — in this iconic ‘80s flick. His skilled maneuvers — plus, a well-timed lightening strike — ensure that he winds up back in 1985 where he belongs.

MOST DEFIANT DENIM

Jesse Eisenberg — The Social Network

We know that jeans are the uniform of Silicon Valley, and Mark Zuckerberg dressed true to form in David Fincher’s 2010 blockbuster. In a sea of suits before the Harvard disciplinary committee, Zuckerberg, sentenced to academic probation, stands up proudly in his denim and demands recognition for his accomplishment.

BEST SCRIPT IN BLUE JEANS

Mike Myers — Wayne’s World

Okay, so this might not have been the most scholarly of scripts, but what other denim-clad characters besides Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar coined as many modern language staples? “Not!” “Schwing!” “Exqueeze me?” and “We’re not worthy!” — to name just a few.

BEST COMEDIC DENIM

Adam Sandler – Billy Madison

In this slapstick gem, Billy Madison comforts a distraught 3rd grader who had an accident on the school field trip, and thus starts a new — luckily, short-lived — denim trend at Polly Fector Elementary. Again, do not try this at home.

BEST JEAN TEAM

The Sandlot gang — The Sandlot

What pants define childhood revelry and sunny days at the baseball field, while at the same time having the durability required to overpower a terrifying mastiff, foaming at the mouth? Blue jeans, of course. In this feel-good flick, the boys show that denim is an essential component of being the coolest gang in the neighborhood.

 

Feature image credit (adapted): Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr CC