Sunday, 25 August 2013

Levi Jeans For Men

By Ray Hauser


Levi jeans for men epitomize a quintessential American style renowned worldwide for its commitment to quality and fashion. The jeans are manufactured by Levi Strauss & Co, a privately held American company founded in 1853 by Levi Strauss. Still headquartered in San Francisco Ca, the company employs seventeen thousand people worldwide and generates almost $5 billion in revenue.

Levi Strauss immigrated to New York from Germany in 1847. He worked with his two brothers in their dry goods business and became a U.S. citizen in 1853. He eventually made his way to Northern California where he settled in San Francisco to take part in the opportunities offered by the California Gold Rush. He opened his own business called Levi Strauss & Co. and peddled canvas, boots, bedding, clothing etc. to regional stores who primarily serviced various mining communities.

Jacob Davis, Strauss's eventual partner, worked as a tailor in Reno, Nevada. He would often buy material from Strauss. The story goes that a working man's wife once asked Davis to make some sturdier pants for her husband since he was always ruining them at work. Davis began making pants with metal rivets at the corners of the pockets and the button fly. The pants were a big hit and held up well under very tough working conditions.

In 1872, Davis contacted Strauss about his new process for making work pants stronger. He wanted to patent the product, but didn't have the money to file the application. Strauss agreed to fund the process and the two men would share the patent. In May 1873, U.S. patent 139121 for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings" was granted to the two men opening the way for the production of modern Levi jeans.

Davis soon moved to San Francisco where he joined Strauss in the manufacture of their "waist overalls" later known as jeans. The pants were sold under the "XX" brand name since nine ounce XX blue denim was used in their production. Each pair had a watch pocket, cinch, crotch rivet, arcuate stitching and suspender buttons. The rivets all had the "LS&CO" logo embossed on them.

In 1886, the Two Horse brand leather patch was first used to demonstrate the strength of the pants and reinforce Levi's status as the creator of patent riveted clothing. In 1890, the rivet patent expired and Levi's began using the 501 trademark to designate copper riveted waist overalls. These pants were originally listed in the catalog as number 501 and the name caught on. By 1928, "Levi's" was registered as a trademark.

By the 1950's teenagers began referring to Levi's as jeans and a zippered version of the jeans was introduced and called 501Z. By 1960, the word "overalls" was formally replaced by "jeans" in labels and advertising.

During the 1950s, teenagers began referring to the overalls as jeans and the name stuck. A zippered version of the jeans called 501Z was also introduced around the same time. By 1960, the name "jeans" replaced "overalls" in all labels and ad campaigns. Levi jeans continue to be a world class leader in apparel and an iconic symbol of American culture and fashion.




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