These ageless jeans: pants that were supposed to help prospectors get rich
These ageless jeans: pants that were supposed to help prospectors get rich

Video: These ageless jeans: pants that were supposed to help prospectors get rich

Video: These ageless jeans: pants that were supposed to help prospectors get rich
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Levi's jeans
Levi's jeans

Today, almost everyone has at least one jeans in their wardrobe. Fashionistas and fashionistas cannot imagine their life without them at all, and after all, earlier these pants were considered exclusively workers' clothing. And it all started with the fact that miners in the mines too often lost their gold bars due to torn pockets.

Levi Strauss, an enterprising emigrant
Levi Strauss, an enterprising emigrant

In 1848, 19-year-old Loeb Strauss emigrated from Bavaria to the United States of America. The enterprising young man changed his Jewish name to the more euphonious American Levi (Levi) Strauss, and got a job as a traveling salesman. When gold was discovered in California in 1849, Levi Strauss decided to try his luck and also went to the West Coast. But he was not going to become a prospector, but continued his trading activity.

Levi Strauss brand store of genuine American jeans
Levi Strauss brand store of genuine American jeans

In 1853, a merchant ship arrived in San Francisco. All the goods on it were bought in advance, and Levi Strauss got only the canvas. He was not taken aback and ordered a local tailor to sew special cut pants. Earlier, the Trader noticed that all the miners have the same problem - their trousers were torn very quickly. In addition, his brother-in-law of Strauss, David Stern, suggested using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets and groin area. "Overalls without a top", as Strauss himself called them, sold out in a matter of days. Prospectors immediately appreciated the cotton trousers with pockets that did not tear from nuggets.

Vintage jeans advertisement
Vintage jeans advertisement

The history of the name of the pants is curious. The first consignments of fabric ordered by Levi Strauss came from a Genoese port. The bags containing the goods bore the Genoa stamp “Genes”. The Americans simply changed the name in their own way - "jeans". Curiously, it wasn't until the 1930s that prospectors' pants began to be called jeans.

Later, instead of canvas, Levi Strauss used a dense French fabric called "denim" from the phrase de Nim, that is, from the city of Nimes, where it was originally produced. The most persistent indigo dye was used to dye the pants. Unusual wear of jeans was achieved due to a special technology of dyeing the threads: on the one hand, they were white, and on the other, blue. When weaving the threads, an uneven shade was obtained.

Signature label on Levi Strauss jeans
Signature label on Levi Strauss jeans
Metal button of branded "Livays"
Metal button of branded "Livays"

After the death of Levi Strauss in 1902, his nephews continued his work. Over time, there were fewer rivets on jeans. In 1941, Walter Haas, then president of Levi Strauss & Co., sat by the fire and burned his groin with a red-hot rivet. The rivets in the back pockets were also removed to avoid scratching saddles and furniture.

Signature Levi Strauss label
Signature Levi Strauss label

During the Second World War, American soldiers actively wore jeans. They appeared in Europe in the late 1950s. Denim trousers were especially popular among hippies. In the USSR, they learned about jeans only during the International Festival of Youth and Students in 1958. Now people cannot imagine their wardrobe without at least one pair of jeans.

Nowadays, jeans are used not only as a piece of clothing, but also as a material for art objects. British artist Ian Berry made stunning portrait of denim scraps.

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