Blue Jeans Patented: Levi Strauss Revolutionizes Fashion
Jacob Davis, a Latvian-born tailor in Reno, Nevada, and San Francisco wholesaler Levi Strauss received US Patent No. 139,121 on May 20, 1873, for the process of using copper rivets to reinforce the stress points on work pants. Davis had been buying denim from Strauss and had discovered that riveting the pocket corners and fly prevented the fabric from tearing. He could not afford the $68 patent fee and proposed a partnership with Strauss, who funded the application. The riveted pants, originally called "waist overalls," were designed for miners and laborers. The iconic 501 jean was not marketed as a fashion item until the 1950s, when James Dean and Marlon Brando wore jeans in films. Global annual jeans sales now exceed $60 billion.
May 20, 1873
153 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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