Do you know that denim trousers were once made for miners?
Are you in love with your denims? Well, many of us are and for good reasons. Denim has been the favourite fabric of quite a few generations, thanks to its durability and functionality, coupled with the style statement that it offers. Ever wondered when and how did denims originate? That must be quite a story! Let’s take a look at the journey of your favourite fabric so far.
Levi Strauss meets a gold miner in California
Yes, you read that right. When the California Gold Rush was in full swing and people from all across USA and the world were travelling to California in search of gold, the American economy was suffering from high demand and lack of supply for all products, including wearables.
This is when a 24-year-old German immigrant living in New York also wanted to use the socio-economic situation to his advantage. He decided to move to the Californian city San Francisco to expand his brother’s dry goods business and open a franchise there. This was in the year 1853.
Anyway, following his arrival and setting up his business, Levi Strauss was approached by a tourist who enquired what he was selling. Hearing that he was selling a rough fabric that can be used to make tents or wagon covers, his customer was very disappointed. Ask why? Because he was desperately looking for a spare pair of pants, that would last him for a long time. When Strauss in turn asked the man why he was searching for durable trousers, the man replied it’s because he was a miner who was in the city chasing gold.
Denims: Born in the hands of a German in the USA
Yes, so Strauss met the gold miner and was instantly hit with a brilliant business idea. He decided to convert the fabric into pair of pants and distribute it in mining circles in bulk. Initially, the pants were selling like hot cakes, but soon Strauss’s business declined as the pants weren’t heat or friction proof, both of which were necessary for mine workers.
Under such circumstances, Strauss had a chance encounter with a Nevada-based Latvian tailor named Jacob W. Davis and together they invented denim. All they did was use Strauss’s rough fabric and blend it with a twilled cotton cloth that they imported from France. It was called “serge de Nimes.” Thereafter, the duo once again converted the denim into a pair of rivet-reinforced pants and called them “waist overalls.” But the name was not becoming popular as they had hoped, even though the trousers were an overnight sensation, both among miners and others. This is when they renamed it as denims or denim blue jeans, both of which stuck. The rest is of course history.
Soon, Strauss and his associate realised that their business could not be contained in Davis’ tailor outlet or Strauss’s dry goods shop and together in 1873 they went on to launch Levi Strauss & Company with their profits. At the same time, they also applied for co-patents for “blue jeans” and described their product as a pair of trousers made of denims with rivets for strength. On 20th May, the patent was approved, the day that is still observed as the official birthday of denims or blue jeans.
Later, in 1886, the brand-design of two horses was introduced that was followed by a red tab attached to the left rear pocket, which came in 1936. Till date, they are used as official identifiers for Levi’s jeans.