56-457: Levi Strauss ( / ˈ l iː v aɪ ˈ s t r aʊ s / LEE -vy STROWSS ; born Löb Strauß , German: [løːp ˈʃtʁaʊs] ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans . His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco , California . Levi Strauss was born to
112-469: A brewery . 1869 saw Davis revert to his original trade, opening a tailor shop in the main street of the town. In his tailor shop, Davis made functional items such as tents , horse blankets and wagon covers for the railway workers on the Central Pacific Railroad . The fabric Davis worked with was heavy-duty cotton duck cloth and cotton denim which he bought from Levi Strauss & Co. ,
168-478: A dry goods company in San Francisco. To strengthen the stress points of the sewn items he was making, Davis used copper rivets to reinforce the stitching. In December 1870, Davis was asked by a customer to make a pair of strong working pants for her husband who was a woodcutter . To create suitably robust pants for working, he used duck cloth and reinforced the weak points in the seams and pockets with
224-741: A "used look" can be more environmentally damaging than regular jeans, depending on how the waste compounds are processed. Sandblasting and treating with sandpaper has the risk of causing silicosis to the workers, and in Turkey, more than 5,000 textile workers have been stricken with this disease, and 46 people are known to have died. Some companies have announced they are banning the use of sandblasting. Despite most jeans being "pre-shrunk", they are still sensitive to slight further shrinkage and loss of color from being washed. The Levi Strauss company recommends avoiding washing jeans as much as possible. Carl Chiara, Levi Strauss director of brand and special projects, has
280-405: A (historic) type of sturdy cloth commonly made with a cotton warp and wool weft (also known as "Virginia cloth"). Jean cloth can be entirely cotton as well, similar to denim. Originally designed for miners , modern jeans were popularized as casual wear by Marlon Brando and James Dean in their 1950s films, particularly The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause , leading to the fabric becoming
336-479: A 45-year-old driving instructor was accused of rape. When he picked up an 18-year-old girl for her first driving lesson, he allegedly raped her for an hour, then told her that if she was to tell anyone he would kill her. Later that night she told her parents and her parents agreed to help her press charges. While the alleged rapist was convicted and sentenced, the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation overturned
392-1416: A Jewish family in Buttenheim on February 26, 1829, in the Franconia region of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the German Confederation . He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and Hirsch’s second wife, Rebecca Strauss (née Haas). In 1847, aged 18, Strauss travelled with his mother and two sisters to the United States to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City called J. Strauss Brother & Co., at 108 Liberty Street in Manhattan. After arriving in New York, Strauss worked as an itinerant peddler of goods from his brother's store: kettles, blankets and sewing goods. Levi's sister Fanny and her husband David Stern moved to St. Louis, Missouri , while Levi went to live in Louisville, Kentucky , and sold his brothers' supplies there. Levi became an American citizen in January 1853. The family decided to open
448-652: A West Coast branch of their dry goods business in San Francisco , which was the commercial hub of the California Gold Rush . Levi was chosen to represent them, and he took steamships for San Francisco via Panama, where he arrived in early March 1854 and joined his sister's family. Strauss opened his wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods from his brothers in New York, including clothing, bedding, combs, purses, and handkerchiefs. He made tents and later jeans while he lived with Fanny's growing family. Tailor Jacob W. Davis of Reno, Nevada
504-539: A boutique in the New York East Village, was "the first retailer to wash a new pair of jeans to get a used, worn effect, and the idea became a hit." He continued, "[Limbo] hired East Village artists to embellish the jeans with patches, decals, and other touches, and sold them for $ 200." In the early 1980s the denim industry introduced the stone-washing technique developed by GWG also known as "Great Western Garment Co." Donald Freeland of Edmonton, Alberta , pioneered
560-482: A credo: The less you wash your jeans, the better your jeans become. These and other suggestions to avoid washing jeans where possible have encountered criticism. Cory Warren, editor of LS&Co. Unzipped , clarifies in a response to such a criticism: Our advice is to wash less often, but clearly, you have to judge for yourself what's appropriate. Hot day, dirty job? Wash your jeans. Please! Cold day, office job? Maybe you can wear them twice or more before they go back to
616-467: A fabric that looks like denim. The fabric would have been Genoese jean, which was cheaper. Genre painting came to prominence in the late 16th century, and the non-nobility subject matter in all ten paintings places them among others that portray similar scenes. Dungaree was mentioned for the first time in the 17th century, when it was referred to as cheap, coarse thick cotton cloth, often colored blue but sometimes white, worn by impoverished people in what
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#1732851808654672-453: A few grams of the dye are required for each pair. For other colors of denim other dyes must be used. Currently, jeans are produced in any color that can be achieved with cotton. For more information on dyeing, refer to denim and the discussion there of using pigment dyes. In 1962, Levi Strauss introduced their own pre-shrunk jeans (Lee and Wrangler jeans had already long been pre-shrunk); these did not shrink further after purchase, allowing
728-496: A flourishing commercial concern. In 1800 Massena 's troops entered the town and Jean-Gabriel was entrusted with their supply. In particular he furnished them with uniforms cut from blue cloth called "bleu de Genes" whence later derives the famous garment known worldwide as "blue jeans". Levi Strauss , as a young man in 1851, went from Germany to New York to join his older brothers who ran a goods store. In 1853, he moved to San Francisco to open his own dry goods business. Jacob Davis
784-560: A result of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Media reported in 2017 that the trend of low-rise jeans , famous in the 1990s and 2000s, was coming back into fashion due to a sparked by an interest in Y2K style. In the early 2000s, low-rise jeans were commonly seen on celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez , Paris Hilton , Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera , attributing to the Y2K style. In 2021, online searches for 'y2k fashion' had risen by 193%, showing that
840-488: A sizeable tailor shop in San Francisco for the production of Davis' working pants and Jacob and his family had moved back to San Francisco for Davis to run this shop. As demand continued to grow, the shop was superseded by a manufacturing plant which Davis managed for Strauss. Davis continued to work there for the remainder of his life, overseeing production of the work pants as well as other lines including work shirts and overalls . Davis died in San Francisco in 1908. He
896-473: A symbol of rebellion among teenagers, especially members of the greaser subculture. From the 1960s onwards, jeans became common among various youth subcultures and subsequently young members of the general population. Nowadays, they are one of the most popular types of trousers in Western culture . Historic brands include Levi's , Lee , and Wrangler . Research on the trade of jean fabric shows that it emerged in
952-765: A symbol of youth rebellion during the 1950s. During the 1960s, the wearing of jeans became more acceptable, and by the 1970s it had become general fashion in the United States for casual wear. In Japan in 1977, a professor of Osaka University Philip Karl Pehda chastised a female student wearing jeans in the classroom. Then he was protested by the students, and a controversy arose in the country. Examples of intentional denim distressing strictly to make them more fashionable can be seen as early as 1935 in Vogue's June issue. Michael Belluomo, editor of Sportswear International Magazine , Oct/Nov 1987, p. 45, wrote that in 1965, Limbo,
1008-580: A tailor's shop before moving to Maine and then, in 1856, San Francisco before moving on to Weaverville . After this itinerant spell in America, during which time it is believed he worked as a journeyman tailor, in 1858 Davis left California and moved to Western Canada to try to find more profitable work. There, Davis met a German immigrant, Annie Parksher, whom he married and together, Jacob and Annie had six children. During his time in Canada , Davis worked at
1064-471: A type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by Davis and Levi Strauss on May 20, 1873. Prior to the patent, the term "blue jeans" had been long in use for various garments (including trousers, overalls, and coats), constructed from blue-colored denim. "Jean" also references
1120-527: A young man and spent some time in Canada as well. He invented jeans by using sturdy cloth and rivets to strengthen weak points in the seams, and partnered with Levi Strauss to mass-produce them. Jacob Youphes was born to a Jewish family in the city of Rīga , in 1831. During this time, he trained and worked as a tailor. In 1854, at the age of 23, he emigrated to the United States , arriving in New York City where he changed his name to Jacob Davis. There he ran
1176-474: Is a less extreme version of sagging , which was popularized by male hip-hop artists in the 1990s. Jacob W. Davis Jacob William Davis (born Jākobs Jufess ; Russian : Якоб Яковлевич Юфес , May 14, 1831 – January 20, 1908) was a Jewish-American tailor of Latvian Jewish origin who is credited with inventing modern jeans . Growing up in the Russian Empire , he emigrated to the United States as
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#17328518086541232-579: Is considered fashionable in some circumstances. During the process of wear, fading will usually occur on those parts of the article that receive the most stress. On a pair of jeans, this includes the upper thighs, the ankles, and the areas behind the knees. Patterns of fading in jeans caused by prolonged periods of wear include: Distressed denim emerged from the cultural punk movement in the 1970s. Early punks tore apart consumer goods as an expression of their anger towards capitalism and corporate greed. Punks deliberately used safety pins in garments to encourage
1288-518: Is created by means of abrading the jeans or treating them with chemicals, such as acryl resin, phenol, a hypochlorite, potassium permanganate, caustic soda, acids etc. Ripping or distressing of jeans, though also arising naturally as a result of wear and tear, is sometimes deliberately performed by suppliers—with distressed clothing sometimes selling for more than a nondistressed pair. For example, Pucci sold "embellished mid-rise boyfriend jeans" for £600 (US$ 860). Over time dry denim will fade, which
1344-615: Is nearly impossible to slip off tight jeans even partly without the active collaboration of the person who is wearing them." The ruling sparked widespread feminist protest. The day after the decision, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans and holding placards that read "Jeans: An Alibi for Rape". As a sign of support, the California Senate and the California Assembly followed suit. Patricia Giggans ,
1400-700: Is no longer a "denim" defense to the charge of rape. In 1957, during the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow , Soviet Union (present-day Russia ), Western-made jeans were first introduced to the communist state and sparked "jeans fever" at the time. People preferred to wear Western-made blue jeans rather than local-made black ones. In Soviet ideology, such an action challenged communist-made jeans and symbolized Western victory. In 1961, two ringleaders, Y. T. Rokotov and V. P. Faibishenko, were caught with their group for smuggling currencies from other countries along with blue jeans and other contraband. Under
1456-464: The Fraser River panning for gold . In January 1867, Davis returned to San Francisco with Annie and his family. Later that year, they moved to Virginia City, Nevada , where he sold wholesale tobacco and pork before beginning work once more as a tailor. By 1868, the family had moved, this time to Reno, Nevada , which at that time was a tiny railroad town and there he helped Frederick Hertlein build
1512-855: The Soviet Union , jeans were the symbol of the Western way of life. The "jeans fever" in the USSR started in 1957 during the World Festival of Youth and Students . According to a 1961 Soviet textile dictionary, jeans were initially referred to as a "worker's uniform" (рабочий костюм, rabochii kostyum ). The jeans brand Rokotov and Fainberg is named after the defendants in the Rokotov–Faibishenko case, Yan T. Rokotov and Vladislav P. Faibishenko, who were executed for, among other things, trafficking in jeans. Although not outright banned, jeans were hard to come by in
1568-616: The University of California, Berkeley , that provided the funds for 28 scholarships. The Levi Strauss museum is located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born Buttenheim , Germany. There is also a visitors center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, which features historical exhibits. In 1994, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum . Jeans Jeans are
1624-403: The zipper down the front. Historic photographs indicate that in the decades before they became a staple of fashion, jeans generally fit quite loosely, much like a pair of bib overalls without the bib. Indeed, until 1960, Levi Strauss called its flagship product "waist overalls" rather than "jeans". After James Dean popularized them in the movie Rebel Without a Cause , wearing jeans became
1680-411: The 1990s with the emergence of grunge fashion. The grunge youth wore loose-fitting ripped jeans, flannel shirts or woolen Pendletons layered over T-shirts. Their anti-conformist approach to fashion led to the popularization of the casual chic look, a trend which continued into the 2000s. A typical pair of blue jeans uses 3,479 litres (919 US gal) of water during its life cycle. This includes
1736-475: The North American West. During this period, men's jeans had the fly down the front, whereas women's jeans had the fly down the left side. When Levi Strauss & Co. patented the modern, mass-produced prototype in 1873, there were two pockets in the front and a patch pocket on the back right reinforced with copper rivets. The small riveted watch pocket was first added by Levi Strauss to their jeans in
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1792-581: The Soviet Union since they were seen as a symbol of rebellion by the Soviet youth, who wanted to emulate the style of film and rock stars of the West. The Soviet government resisted supplying the market with jeans as it would mean responding to the market , a capitalist principle. People went to great lengths, sometimes by resorting to violence and other illegal activities, to obtain real Western-made jeans. That led to
1848-475: The cities of Genoa , Italy, and Nîmes , France. Gênes, the French word for Genoa, might be the origin of the word " jeans ". In Nîmes, weavers tried to reproduce jean fabric but instead developed a similar twill fabric that became known as denim, " de Nîmes" , meaning "from Nîmes". Genoa's jeans fabric was a fustian textile of "medium quality and of reasonable cost", very similar to cotton corduroy for which Genoa
1904-403: The consumer to purchase a correctly fitting size. Pre-shrink is most common in jeans nowadays. These jeans were known as the 505 regular fit jeans. The 505s are almost identical to the 501s with the exception of the button-fly. The Levi's Corporation also introduced a slim boot-cut fit known as 517 and 527. The difference between the two is that the 517s sit at the waist line and the 527s sit below
1960-414: The conviction in 1998 because the victim wore tight jeans. It was argued that she must have necessarily had to help her attacker remove her jeans, thus making the act consensual ("because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them... and by removing the jeans... it was no longer rape but consensual sex"). The court stated in its decision "it is a fact of common experience that it
2016-442: The copper rivets. Such was the success of these pants that word spread throughout the labourers along the railroad. Davis was making these working pants in duck cotton and, as early as 1871, in denim cotton. Before long, he found he could not keep up with demand. Davis had previously applied for patents for other inventions. Realizing the potential value in his reinforced jeans concept, in 1872, he approached Levi Strauss , who
2072-479: The creation of black markets and to the bootlegging of jeans, which since has become an important cultural element of the history of the Soviet Union . In 2014, teens were buying more fashion and athleisure clothing from brands such as Nike and Lululemon over denim classics from brands like Abercrombie & Fitch . Activewear in 2014 comprised 28% of teens' apparel purchases, up from 6% in 2008. In 2014, Nike, Lululemon, Under Armour , and Adidas were
2128-577: The executive director of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (now Peace Over Violence) soon made Denim Day an annual event. As of 2011 at least 20 U.S. states officially recognize Denim Day in April. Wearing jeans on that day has become an international symbol of protest against such attitudes about sexual assault. In 2008 the Supreme Court of Cassation overturned the ruling, so there
2184-429: The fashion style was making a comeback, and low-rise jeans were becoming a common clothing item for teenagers and young adults. Low-rise jeans usually come 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) or more below the navel. Manufactured low-rise jeans have a shorter rise (distance between the waistband and crotch seam). The low-rise look can also be accomplished by letting jeans with longer rises fall lower than they are meant to. This
2240-401: The late 1870s. In 1901, Levi Strauss added the back left pocket to their 501 model. This created the now familiar and industry-standard five-pocket configuration with two large pockets and small watch pocket in front with two pockets on the rear. The popularity of "waist overalls", as jeans were sometimes called, expanded during World War II . By the 1960s, both men's and women's jeans had
2296-618: The late 19th century. It was replaced by indigo synthesis methods developed in Germany. By the 17th century, jean was a crucial textile for working-class people in Northern Italy. This is seen in a series of genre paintings from around the 17th century attributed to an artist now referred to as the Master of the Blue Jeans. The ten paintings depict impoverished scenes with lower-class figures wearing
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2352-502: The leadership of Nikita Khrushchev , the duo were executed. North America accounts for 39% of global purchases for jeans, followed by Western Europe at 20%, Japan and Korea at 10% and the rest of the world at 31%. United States consumers spent more than US$ 14 billion on jeans in 2004 and US$ 15 billion in 2005. US consumers bought US$ 13.8 billion of men's and women's jeans in the year that ended April 30, 2011 (~$ 18.4 billion in 2023), according to market-research firm NPD Group. In
2408-491: The method, which helped to bring denim to a larger and more versatile market. Acceptance of jeans continued through the 1980s and 1990s. Originally a utilitarian garment, jeans became a common fashion choice in the second half of the 20th century. In the early 21st century, Details Men's Style Manual devoted a chapter to jeans, saying, "Now that jeans have become more acceptable cocktail-hour attire, you should probably own more than one pair." Calling Levi's 501s "an icon from
2464-403: The moment they were introduced," and "the quintessential pair of jeans," the guidebook calls the standard straight leg design, "a classic clean-cut American Graffiti look." Traditionally, jeans were dyed to a blue color using natural indigo dye . Most denim is now dyed using synthetic indigo. Approximately 20 thousand tons of indigo are produced annually for this purpose, though only
2520-423: The most popular brands for athletic apparel among teen consumers. Fashion retailers have begun to adjust their offerings accordingly. Bloomberg reports that Levi's stuck to its core product (denim) instead of adapting to consumer trends. As a result, Levi's sales decreased from over US$ 7 billion to US$ 4.8 billion in 2015. In February 2021, it was found that sales for athleisure had risen by 84% since March 2020 as
2576-651: The waist line. Later, Levi's would develop other styles and fits such as the loose, slim, comfort, relaxed, skinny, and a regular fit with a tapered leg. A significant amount of the aesthetic treatment of jeans may occur after the denim has been cut and sewn into the final garment. Many denim articles are washed to make them softer and to reduce or minimize shrinkage even beyond what sanforization prevents. Significantly washed denim can resemble dry denim which has faded naturally over extended use. Such distressing may be supplemented by chemical treatments or physical techniques such as stone washing . The used or " acid wash " look
2632-469: The washing machine. Personally, if I wear a pair of jeans to work on Friday—cool climate, office job—I tend to wear them on Saturday. And if Saturday is spent indoors and I'm not spilling food all over myself, I might even wear them on Sunday. For those who prefer to refrain from washing their jeans there have been suggestions to freeze them in order to kill the germs that cause odor. However, this advice has been proven ineffective. In Rome , Italy, in 1992,
2688-447: The water to irrigate the cotton crop, manufacture the jeans, and the numerous washes by the consumer. During production, the typical amount for washing with traditional Pullman machines reaches 90 litres per jeans, which can be reduced to about 27 litres using modern frontloaders. Novel washing processes such as Droptima can reduce that to 6 litres fresh water plus 4 litres used water. The production of jeans with
2744-443: The youth to not buy endless, meaningless, fashion, and so fund corporations. Corporate bosses gentrified the notion, by selling clothes with safety pins already in them, to the next generation, so the original meaning of punk was lost. Denim became a key target of this politically fueled deconstruction, with both men and women donning torn pants and jackets, accessorized with safety pins and slogans. The trend became popular again in
2800-671: Was a tailor who often bought bolts of cloth from the Levi Strauss & Co . wholesale house. In 1872, Davis wrote to Strauss asking to partner with him to patent and sell clothing reinforced with rivets . The copper rivets were to reinforce the points of stress, such as pocket corners and at the bottom of the button fly. Strauss accepted Davis's offer, and the two men received US patent No. 139,121 for an "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings" on May 20, 1873. Davis and Strauss experimented with different fabrics. An early attempt
2856-581: Was brown cotton duck , a bottom-weight fabric. Finding denim a more suitable material for work-pants, they began using it to manufacture their riveted pants. The denim used was produced by an American manufacturer. Popular legend incorrectly states that it was imported from Nîmes. A popular myth is that Strauss initially sold brown canvas pants to miners, later dyed them blue, turned to using denim, and only after Davis wrote to him, added rivets. Initially, Strauss's jeans were simply sturdy trousers worn by factory workers , miners, farmers, and cattlemen throughout
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#17328518086542912-522: Was famous, and was "used for work clothes in general". The Genoese navy equipped its sailors with jeans, as they needed a fabric that could be worn wet or dry. Nîmes's "denim" was coarser, considered higher quality, and was used "for over garments such as smocks or overalls". In 1576, a quantity of "jean fustians" arrived into the port of Barnstaple on a vessel from Bristol. Nearly all indigo , needed for dyeing, came from indigo bush plantations in India until
2968-415: Was one of his customers; in 1871, having invented a way to strengthen work pants using rivets, he went into business with Strauss to mass produce them. The next year, Davis asked Strauss to help him apply for a patent, and the patent (one-half assigned to Levi Strauss & Co.) was issued in 1873. Levi Strauss was never married and had no children, and died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco. His estate
3024-573: Was still his supplier of fabric, and asked for his financial backing in the filing of a patent application . Strauss agreed, and on May 20, 1873, US Patent No. 139,121 for "Improvements in fastening pocket openings" was issued in the name of Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss and Company. That same year, Davis started sewing a double orange threaded stitched design onto the back pocket of the jeans to distinguish them from those made by his competitors. This trademark feature became Registered U.S. Trade Mark No. 1,139,254. By this time, Strauss had set up
3080-471: Was then a region of Bombay , India a dockside village called Dongri. This cloth was "dungri" in Hindi . Dungri was exported to England and used for manufacturing of cheap, robust working clothes. In English, the word "dungri" became pronounced as "dungaree". The term jeans appears first in 1795, when a Swiss banker by the name Jean-Gabriel Eynard and his brother Jacques went to Genoa and both were soon heading
3136-600: Was worth about $ 30 million (equivalent to $ 855 million in 2023). Levi's nephew Sigmund Stern's only child, Elise Fanny Stern, married Walter A. Haas , the son of Abraham Haas , whose descendants are the current owners of Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss, a member of the Reform branch of Judaism , helped establish Congregation Emanu-El , the first Jewish synagogue in the city of San Francisco. He also gave money to several charities, including special funds for orphans. The Levi Strauss Foundation started with an 1897 donation to
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