The history of jeans begins in the 19th century in the United States, at the time of the pioneers and the gold rush: “These people will all work in the same conditions, either outside or inside the mines. And there are many who work in the rivers. At the very beginning, that was where we found gold nuggets. It’s very manual work and so you have to dress these people…” told the magazine “8:30 p.m. on Saturday” (replay) Eric Maggiori, editor-in-chief of the magazine Before.
“At the beginning, it’s a bit rudimentary, and we don’t really know how to cut it. Sometimes, it’s pants without pockets, more resistant than the others used so far, but which still has problems of solidity”, specifies the collector of jeans. The curator of the “Jean” exhibition, which is being held until May 8, 2022 at the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, in Paris, adds: “They have relatively large tools, like pickaxes. When they put them in their pockets, it gouges them.”
The patent was filed in 1873 and the success was immediate
In the State of Nevada, a small tailor named Jacob Davis will find the solution that will solve the question of solidity: “He’s going to use what we call rivets, these little metal buttons that he’s going to put in strategic places on the jeans that are going to be reinforced, like the pockets, the places where the jeans can tear. And he realizes that there is a real solidity”, says Sophie Lecuyer. This small local producer, who does not have the financial and human means to produce so much on the assembly line, has the idea of contacting the person supplying him with the fabric: Levi Strauss.
“Levi Strauss is excited, finding it really great. They will join forces: Jacob Davis brings his technical solution and Levi Strauss will pay for the patent”, recalls the curator of the exhibition. The patent was filed on May 20, 1873, the success was immediate and these pants became the overalls of the United States. Eric Maggiori adds: “It was not at all a garment that we wore on Sundays. There was an expression at the time which said: ‘Buried in Levi’s’. It meant that we could not afford to dress in costume for his funeral. So, that we were poor…”
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