The story of jeans, an indispensable clothing product today, dates back to 1871.
levi strauss, born in 1829 in buttenheim, bamberg, near franken, germany, founder of levi strauss & co. (levi’s), originally called “löb strauss”.
When his father, a merchant, succumbs to tuberculosis, löb takes on the task of taking care of his family. At the age of 18, he immigrates to new york with his mother and two sisters. this is where he takes the name “levi”. he goes into business.
a time when gold prospecting was all the rage… levi and his friend david stern join in these adventures.
One day, while taking a break from their search, a group of gold prospectors to whom they had sold tent fabric are looking at levi and david with hostility, since their search had been in vain and the fabric they had bought was so waterlogged that they were getting wet. a light bulb goes off in levi’s head and he offers to have the men sew pants from the fabric. the pants are found to be so strong by the gold prospectors that they are sold like hot cakes.
a Lithuanian immigrant named jacob davis and levi strauss become partners, producing all kinds of clothes and covers from denim fabric. With the patent they received in 1873, the first jean was produced.