A new pair free, if they rip

Levi’s, a multi-billion dollar international corporation that is constantly innovating despite being over 140 years old.

Unlike what most people believe, Levi Strauss was from Buttenheim, Germany, and migrated to the US with his mother and two sisters at 18. In 1853, Levi moved to San Francisco because of the California gold rush, but his attention was soon directed towards starting his own dry goods business, which he named Levi Strauss and Co. Around 1872, he got a letter from a man named Jacob Davis, one of his customers and a tailor from Reno, Nevada. The letter was aimed at Jacob seeking a partner to patent his idea. And that patent was granted to Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis in 1873, giving life to the blue jeans we know and love today.

“A new pair free, if they rip” is seen in this marketing material of Levi’s on a wall. This confident idea of being the most durable denim is because the first Levi’s jeans were designed as workman’s clothes. Men who are cowboys, lumberjacks, and laborers who worked in mines and railroads. They would wear them over their regular clothes and would leave them behind when they left. This was the reason they were initially referred to as overalls. Despite the quality, Levi did not wear his creations as he was already a wealthy man, and successful people did not wear denim. By looking at this image, you will be fascinated by how culture has developed over the decades.