Engineered Jeans

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Denim Jeans - Fashion History

 

'Serge de Nîmes'

In fashion history, jeans and denim history continues to baffle us.  No one truly knows the perfect answer to where jeans began.  As so often happens fashions often emerge together in various parts of the world and are the result of the sudden availability of a new fabric, cloth, dye or technique.

But we do know that the phrase denim jeans is thought to derive from several sources.  The majority of source books suggest that denim derives from the English translation of the South of France French phrase 'Serge de Nîmes'.  Denim fashion history is thus associated with Serge de Nîmes.

It may well be that the fabric which was made in France also had a version made locally in England, and was called by the same name of denim, in the same way that Cheddar cheese is called cheddar all over the world.  The Serge de Nîmes was originally a wool silk mix, twill weave.  Certainly by the 19^th century in England, denim had a white warp and a navy woof (weft).  Denim was considered a hard wearing sturdy fabric, ideal for heavy labouring.

History of Blue Jeans

 

Levi Strauss Jeans

In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother's New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, "You should have brought pants!," saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last.

Denim Blue Jeans

Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes." The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans.

Levi Strauss & Company

In 1873, Levi Strauss & Company began using the pocket stitch design. Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor David Jacobs co-patented the process of putting rivets in pants for strength. On May 20, 1873, they received U.S.Patent No.139,121. This date is now considered the official birthday of "blue jeans."

The two-horse brand design was first used in 1886. The red tab attached to the left rear pocket was created in 1936 as a means of identifying Levi’s jeans at a distance. All are registered trademarks