It was on May 20th 1873 that the entrepreneur Levi Strauss and his taylor Jacob Davis obtained the patent for work trousers which could be closed with buttons and had pockets that were strengthened with copper holder-ons. It was the era of the gold rush in San Francisco, California, and miners were required to wear resistant trousers: the first pair of blue jeans was born.
My passion for America is unconditional. However, I am Italian after all, so it seems fair to point out that the material of which the blue jeans were made, which is denim – more specifically, its ancestor, which was a sort of highly resistant blue cloth – was apparently invented in Genova, Italy. According to some, “the ancestor of denim” was used to pack work clothes that local sailors wore. According to others, it was used to cover goods on ships. Either way, jeans became successful because of the use of this material.
Blue Jeans were originally named XX . They received the iconic lottery number 501® in 1890.Since then, Levi’s 501 have had a long and significant journey: the likes of Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs and Barack Obama have loved this timeless item of clothing.
“I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes.”. – Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent praised the 501 in this manner. As I agree with him entirely, I have decided to dedicate an article and a few photos to jeans (in the next post), as I am happy that they have never gone out of fashion.
