Did slaves invent blue jeans?
Enslaved BLACKS INVENTED BLUE JEANS. They did it in South Carolina and other Southern states in the mid-1700s by knowing how to skillfully process the indigo plant that had been skillfully cultivated by their ancestors 6,000 years ago! (It wasn't Levi Strauss in 1873.)”
That year, two visionary immigrants — Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis — turned denim, thread and a little metal into what has become the most popular apparel on earth.
A century and a half later, blue jeans are an international symbol of independence, equality, freedom, and youth. Levi Strauss, along with Nevada tailor Jacob Davis, invented blue jeans in 1873. Strauss had come to New York in ship's steerage with his mother and three sisters at age 18, in 1847.
It all started in 1871, when tailor Jacob Davis of Reno, Nevada, had a problem. The pants he was making for miners weren't tough enough to stand up to the conditions in local mines; among other issues, the pockets and button fly were constantly being torn.
Blue jeans were actually an accidental discovery in the 18th century, when people in Nimes, France attempted to replicate a sturdy Italian fabric called serge. What they created was "serge de Nimes" or, as it's been shortened to, "denim."
People have been wearing blue jeans for centuries. Originally, the blue color came from a natural indigo dye. The dye was chosen for the way it interacted with cotton. When heated, most dyes penetrate the cotton fibers but indigo dye attaches to the fiber's surface, instead.
As far back as the 1930s, when the popularity of cowboy films helped jeans make the leap from workwear into the wardrobes of Hollywood stars, denim has been understood to stand for something larger about the American spirit: for rugged individualism, informality and a classless respect for hard work.
“Jeans” is a short for “blue jeans” which are invented by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873. Jeans as name for trousers come from city of Genoa in Italy, a place where cotton corduroy, called either jean or jeane, was manufactured.
The cuts and the incisions over the jeans were made as mark of anger towards society. This came to be seen as political movement. Madonna among other celebrities popularised the trend, and soon fans started following the trend. Hence, a political expression of anger and protest turned into a fashion trend.
Where does the word Jeans come from? The word Jeans comes from a twilled cotton fabric called 'Genoa fustian'; often used to make durable workwear. Labourers in the United States referred to their workwear as ' Jeans', after the city Genoa, where the fabric was initially woven.
What were Levi jeans originally made for?
This month marks the 165th year since the San Francisco clothing company first made them. Here's a look at the evolution of Levi's jeans' style and branding, plus how the apparel originally designed for hard-working laborers is now impacting the workforce as casual attire.
Later (1873), Strauss partnered with a tailor named Jacob Davis who had the idea of reinforcing pants with copper rivets in delicate areas where they used to break. This finally was the origin of the first Jeans. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis. These pants are the oldest in the Levi's archives.
Jacob William Davis (born Jākobs Jufess; 1831–1908) was a Latvian born American tailor who is credited with inventing modern jeans. Growing up in Latvia, he emigrated to the United States as a young man and spent some time in Canada as well.
Although jeans are often associated with North America, the material they are made from - denim - actually originates from the southern French city of Nimes.
