|
Levi's JeansLevi's jeans for women. Levi's has a robust history and is actually the first jeans ever made. It all started in 1853 with one pair of jeans...
Read more
The History of Levi's Blue Jeans
In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother's dry goods business.
Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, "You should have brought pants!", saying he couldn't find a pair strong enough to last. Levi Strauss had the canvas made into overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes". The fabric later became known as "denim" and the pants were nicknamed "genes", a word coined to describe the style of pants worn by sailors who sailed from the port of Genoa, Italy (Genes). In 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. began using the arcuate pocket stitch design, a decorative double row of stitching to trademark his jeans. Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor, Jacob Davis, co-patented the process of putting rivets on jeans to provide needed strength. On May 20, 1873, they received U.S. Patent No. 139,121. This date is now considered the official birthday of "blue jeans".
The two horse brand design was first used in 1886, to convey a contest of two horses trying to pull apart a pair of jeans to symbolize its strength and durability. It appears on the leatherlike patch of all Levi's jeans. The red tab attached to the left rear pocket was created in 1936 as a means of identifying Levi's jeans at a distance. All are registered trademarks that are still in use.
Collapse
|