Levi's

The history of Levi’s starts with a man named Jacob W. Davis, a tailor by trade. He produced hand made work pants for irregular sizes. Davis noticed that there were certain areas on the pants that wore down, or even ripped, much quicker than others. Davis had a brainwave and adapted rivets, as used on horse blankets, to his denim pants to reinforce them. Unknowingly he revolutionized the clothing industry with this method. Meanwhile, on the west coast, a certain mr Levi Strauss was similarly hard at work and unknowingly on the way to ensuring his name in the denim history books. This enterprising German immigrant had set up a dry goods business, specializing in tents and wagon covers made of canvas. He spotted a rapidly growing demand for sturdy

work pants, so he diversified and began manufacturing overalls and pants that would survive the grind of working in factories, railroad construction and on the farms. As his business had its ups and downs, the sturdiness of workwear pants remained a problem. In 1872 he was the one man who recognized the potential and significance of what Jacob Davis had done with the horse blanket rivets, and got in touch with him. Strauss explained his situation and suggested they work together. Barely a year passed before they were granted a patent. The two-horse brand design was subsequently first used in 1886. The red tab attached to the left rear pocket was created a fifty years after that date, as a means of identifying Levi’s jeans at a distance.

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