Genoa jeans. Denim is a genius invention of mankind

18.07.2019

What served as the prototype for modern jeans?

According to historians, the prototype of modern jeans was pants made of canvas, which were worn by Italian sailors back in the 15th. This fabric has spread in clothing due to the decline of the sailing fleet and the uselessness of sewing sails. Later, these pants were called "Genes", and then "jeans" - in the American manner. These words come from the name of the Italian city of Genoa, in which the canvas was produced.

Who made the first jeans?

This story is associated with the name of a Belgian immigrant of Jewish origin, the son of a tailor - Leib Strauss, who arrived in America in 1853. While on the ship, Leib was nicknamed Levi Strauss by American sailors. Levy came to America with only a roll of canvas that he inherited, from which he began to sew custom-made tents.

Once a tipsy gold digger told Levi that if he had good trousers, he could sleep in them under a tree, and not in a tent. Without thinking twice, Levi Strauss, remembering the skills passed on to him by his father, sewed his first pants from canvas and sold it to a worker. The canvas pants from Strauss turned out to be really solid, so soon the tailor had other customers as well.

In the same 1853, Levi Strauss opened in San Francisco, on Battery Street, his first atelier, where he sewed trousers for workers. Strauss himself traveled to the settlements of gold diggers, offering his products and gradually improving them in accordance with the wishes of the customers. This is how belt loops, durable double stitching, deep front and back pockets appeared on the pants.

A little later, Levi Strauss began to sew jeans not from canvas, but from a dense cotton fabric of diagonal weaving - twill and supplied them with rivets.

In 1886, a leather label appeared on jeans. Around the same time, San Francisco's gold mines dried up, so there was nothing more for the gold diggers to do there. Thus, jeans have infiltrated the masses, becoming clothing for the common people.

The Levi Strauss company still exists in the American market and produces the famous Levi's jeans brand.

How much did the first jeans cost?

The price of the first jeans sewn by Levi Strauss was $ 1 and 20 cents.

Who was the first to invent zipper jeans?

In 1926, Lee revolutionized the jeans world with the first zip front jeans, the 1012.

Did you know that ...

During World War II, jeans in America were made and sold only to combatants, with the result that the pants became part of the military uniform of the US Army.

When and where did the first women's jeans appear?

For a long time, jeans were the prerogative of only men. The first women's jeans from the Mustang brand appeared in Europe (Germany) in 1953.

What color were the first jeans?

Until the 60s of the 20th century, jeans were dyed blue (indigo), and only in the 60s did jeans begin to acquire other colors, shapes, as well as stripes and decorations. In many ways, this was facilitated by the hippie subculture, among which jeans have firmly entered daily fashion. Flared jeans were considered especially fashionable.

Jeans (English - jeans) - trousers made of dense cotton fabric, most often dyed in indigo. Equipped with rivets at the seams of the pockets. The inventor of jeans is Levi Strauss, who first sewed them as workwear in 1853.

Jeans history

According to historians, back in the 15th century, Italian sailors wore pants made of canvas... This fabric has spread in clothing due to the decline of the sailing fleet and the uselessness of sewing sails. Later, these pants were called "Genes", and then "jeans" - in the American manner. These words come from the name of the Italian city of Genoa, in which the canvas was produced.
In 1750, the Book of Samples of the French Textile Industry was published, which describes eight types of pants, very reminiscent of modern jeans.

The history of jeans the way we are used to seeing them now is associated with the name of a Belgian immigrant of Jewish origin, the son of a tailor - Leib Strauss, who arrived in America in 1853. 24-year-old Leib was nicknamed Levi Strauss while on the ship. Upon arrival in the United States, Levi had with him only a roll of canvas, inherited from his father, from which, in order to somehow feed himself, Strauss began to sew custom-made tents.

The canvas pants from Strauss turned out to be really solid, so soon the tailor had other customers as well.

In the same 1853, Levi Strauss opened in San Francisco, on Battery Street, his first atelier, where he sewed trousers for workers. Strauss himself traveled to the settlements of gold diggers, offering his products and gradually improving them in accordance with the wishes of the customers. So on the pants appeared belt loops, durable double stitching, deep front and back pockets.

In 1860, the demand for Levi Strauss' products fell sharply. This was due to the fact that the pockets of the products quickly detached from the weight of the gold nuggets and tools that the workers carried with them. This is how the name of another person appeared in the history of jeans - Jacob Davis. He came up with a special device that allows you to much strengthen the pockets of your pants. Jacob attached iron rivets from horse harness to the joints of the seams on the pockets of the products. Since Jacob himself was not wealthy enough to patent his invention, he did it together with Levi Strauss. So rivets appeared on the fly, front, and then back pockets of jeans.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received patent No. 139121, registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office, for the production of "strapless work overalls with pockets for knife, money and watches.".
A little later, Levi Strauss began to sew jeans not from canvas, but from a dense cotton fabric of diagonal weaving - twill, otherwise called "denim".

In 1926, Lee revolutionized the jeans world with the first zip front jeans, the 1012.

In 1941, the groin riveting disappeared from jeans, as, according to workers, it was very hot from the fire and could damage the skin.

During World War II, jeans in America were made and sold only to combatants, with the result that the pants became part of the military uniform of the US Army.

In 1953, Europe's first women's jeans from the Mustang brand appeared in Germany.

In the 60s of the twentieth century, the fashion for jeans returned to the masses, becoming an attribute of the image of representatives of such subcultures as. A little later, jeans began to be dyed not only in indigo, but also in any other colors. In the late 60s, Louis Ferro presented jeans fully embroidered with rhinestones to the general public. Since that time, a new era begins in the history of jeans, which revolutionized the fashion world and became one of the most popular wardrobe items of our time.

Textile

Initially, jeans were sewn from dense Italian or French hemp canvas due to its cheapness. Later, the canvas was replaced by a dense cotton fabric - twill. By the beginning of the 60s of the twentieth century, in the midst of the denim boom, all jeans were sewn only from it.

Twill - (from Latin sericus - silk) - cotton, silk or synthetic fabric with a diagonal weave. This canvas was made around AD 300. NS. in the French city of Nimes. Serge de Nimes - the twill from Nimes was destined to go down in history. After 1500 years, jeans were sewn from this fabric, and it itself began to be called "denim", after the name of the city - de Nimes.

Other types of denim fabrics:

shaumbri- a kind of denim, soft and thin denim;
broken twill- herringbone denim invented John Walker and pioneered by Wrangler;
eikru- unpainted cotton fabric, natural jeans;
stretch- fabric from a mixture of cotton with elastane or lycra;
gin- another kind of denim, cheap, evenly dyed fabric, the threads are intertwined diagonally.

Models (varieties)

Currently, a large number of varieties of jeans can be distinguished. They vary in fit and style:

easy fit classic jeans- fit the hips, the legs are slightly narrowed to the ankle, the waistline is slightly lowered;
Comfort fit classic jeans- looser, straight leg, higher waistline;
five pocket classic jeans(Five-pockets) - model from Levi’s numbered 501. Straight on a wide enough belt with five or nine decorative metal rivets on the front and back pockets. The jeans have 5 pockets: 2 in the back, 2 in the front and a small pocket for watches on the back of the right front pocket;
flared jeans"(Flare cut) - fit (but not tight) the leg to the knee or mid-calf and noticeably widen to the ankle, usually sit just below the waist;
bootcut jeans- elongated, tight-fitting hips, with a low waistline and legs widening below the knee, covering the boots with two fingers;
bell jeans(Bell bottom) - fit the leg to the knee, and are strongly flared from the knee, the style gained popularity in the 70s;
skinny skinny jeans(Skinny jeans) got their name from their very skinny silhouette, which fits the figure tightly, both in the hips and legs;
Loose fit- jeans that are very spacious along the entire length, in the lower part they are so wide that they almost completely cover the shoes;
Baggy fit- baggy, extremely wide jeans, with the effect of lowered pants;
Bib- jumpsuit with straps;
Cargo- jeans with bulky patch pockets;
Saggy fit- jeans with a hanging codpiece;
Sta Prest- jeans with an "eternal" arrow, which were released for the first time in the 60s in Knoxville (USA)... Polyester is added to their fabric, trousers are "baked" according to a special technology in such a way that even after numerous washes, the arrow remains in place.

Jeans, made of thick cotton twill, called "denim", in their modern form appeared in the 70s of the XIX century in San Francisco thanks to the American Levi Strauss, who sewed work pants. Although the history of the origin of jeans began much earlier.

So, back in the 16th century, European sailors wore canvas pants. And since it was produced in Genoa, the pants were called "genes" or "jeans". They look similar to modern jeans.

In 1853, a young tailor, Levi Strauss, arrived in America with only a roll of canvas, from which he began to sew tents for miners. Once, a gold digger ordered him pants, in which you can spend the night on the street, and not in a tent. He liked them, and soon in San Francisco Strauss opened a workshop for sewing canvas pants. Over the next few years, they were modified several times in accordance with the requests of the buyers. So, the pants got deep pockets, belt loops, side seams were strengthened.

In the 1860s, the popularity of jeans was boosted by Jacob Davis, who proposed using iron rivets from horse harness to strengthen pockets. He and Strauss patented the production of "strapless work overalls with pockets for a knife, money and watch." And in the mid-1870s, Strauss began to sew jeans from a dense cotton fabric - twill, also called "denim", and not from canvas. After the mines in San Francisco were mined at the end of the 19th century, they became widespread, becoming the clothing of the common people.

During World War II, jeans in America became part of the uniform of the US Army. As a result, they ended up in Europe and Japan, where they quickly became very popular. However, after its completion and in the 50s, there was a recession, and they began to forget about jeans.

But in the 60s of the twentieth century, a real revolution took place in the history of denim fashion. The impetus for its beginning was the hippies, who began to decorate their denim clothes with embroidery, rhinestones and beads. Many famous couturiers liked their ideas, and soon many of them presented jeans first, and then shirts, skirts, denim jackets with various patterns and decorations. However, the fashion designers did not stop there, first changing the style, and then the fabric itself: it was abraded to fibers, soaked in acids, bleached on the buttocks, knees and front of the thighs, shredded with blunt scissors, and also shot with a shot.

Until the end of the twentieth century, the whole world invented new and improved existing technologies for aging jeans. And in the early 2000s, some designers decided to return to blue denim.

Today we will talk about the history of the creation and emergence of jeans and the first denim brands in the world, because jeans are common clothes in modern times, millions of people prefer these trousers because of their convenience and durability, they are combined with any clothes and are almost always appropriate.

Why are jeans so popular?

Tapered, flared, with shingles, with rhinestones, classic blue or red - their range is very large. Now jeans and denim-style clothes can be chosen for every taste, height and size.

Almost all things of this style are adapted to everyday wear and very comfortable, so the answer to the question of why jeans are so popular, and the popularity of the entire denim style, is so obvious.

The history of denim and denim

The history of the denim style is closely intertwined with the history of the first jeans and the denim denim material from which they are made. Denim is a dense cotton fabric of plain or twill weave, which first appeared in the cities of Genoa and Nîmes in Europe, in the city of Nîmes the fabric itself was made, in Genoa - indigo dyes. The very same the appearance of jeans is due to Leib Strauss from Bavaria.

The history of jeans creation

Young Leib Strauss from a Jewish family during the time of anti-Semitic sentiments in Europe, changing his name to Levi Strauss, went to America, where then the gold rush flared up violently, in the hope of a better future. Having abandoned the race for wealth in the mines because of the frenzied competition, he decided that it would be much more profitable to take care of the workers.

In the middle of the 19th century, in a ship with various fabrics and haberdashery, he moored to the coast of San Francisco, where he engaged in trade. The fabrics and haberdashery were quickly dismantled, but he was left with a roll of hemp canvas, which no one needed, which had become much cheaper due to the decline of the sailing fleet.

Levi's jeans - classic 501

How did the first jeans come about?

Realizing that the sail fabric itself would not be easy to sell, the enterprising merchant sewed a pair of trousers from it, which were instantly bought by one of the miners. This was the beginning of the history of the appearance of the first jeans.

Soon, appreciating the strength and comfort of the material, others wanted the same trousers. At the same time, in 1853, the first brand store "Levi Strauss & Co" was opened, where Levi worked with his cousin.

The firm grew and expanded rapidly, patenting its inventions. The canvas fabric was replaced by blue and blue denim, sourced from Europe.

In 1872, Levy received a letter from an American tailor named Jacob Davis, who suggested that metal rivets should be fastened to the most vulnerable parts of his trousers. Levi Strauss liked the idea, and soon they, together with Jacob, patented blue trousers with rivets, which took on the look of jeans, close to what we are used to seeing every day.

Jeans market mastodon Lee

Lee, the second-ever denim clothing brand, was created by a talented entrepreneur and very active man named Henry David Lee, who fell ill with tuberculosis and was advised by doctors to move to the west because of the more suitable climate.

Upon arriving in Kansas, he bought himself a food company, soon gaining a monopoly. However, workers often complained about the lack of suitable work clothes, so Henry decided to purchase a garment factory that made jeans. This was the beginning of the world history of creating denim brands.

At the same time, Lee not only copied the developments of Levi’s & Co, but also created many of its innovations: a zipper at the fly, a denim overalls, a denim jacket, which was subsequently insulated with an insulated lining and a corduroy collar, which made it possible to wear the jacket in winter.

Also, the plant invented a method of planting products, sanforization, after which the jeans did not sit down from washing. During the crisis years for America, the company became the largest manufacturer of jeanswear, and remains just as popular and recognizable to this day.

Wrangler - clothes for a real cowboy

Denim from Wrangler was designed for cowboy use, so the denim trousers were redesigned to be comfortable on horseback.

Instead of the usual twill, a broken line was used, this allowed the trousers not to twist around the legs. The pockets were positioned so they would not get in the way when riding the horse, and the rivets from the back pockets were removed because they were scratching the saddle.

The inside and outside seams were hemmed, and the denim trousers were tapered at the top to prevent the shirt from straightening. In the middle of the 20th century, the names of this jeans brand released the first pair of trousers for women in history. Now this brand is a symbol of youth, cowboys and country.

How the most famous "denim brands" appeared

CompanyMustang Jeans - the very first jeans company in Europe which appeared in Germany. Its feature was the emergence of "stretch" jeans-stretch, corduroy jeans, and also the first to release jeans for women in Europe.

One of the most famous denim firms has become Montana with its worldwide recognizable Texas model. They used very durable solid denim. It was these jeans that all the youth of the Soviet Union dreamed about, looking back to the west.

Another famous denim company, Arizona, which for a long time has been distributing such a trinity of jeans market mastodons as Levi's, Lee and Wrangler, began to produce its own jeans, focusing on the younger generation. Thanks to democratic prices, it is now successfully competing with them.

Westland is a company that has taken everyday wearing comfort as the basis of its work, regardless of weather conditions. Therefore, jeans of this brand are denim clothes for every day.

Diesel is a renowned denim brand that is very popular in denim. The first creation of the founder of the company, Renzo Rosso, was flared jeans.

Pepe Jeans is an English firm that produces denim and denim jeans for young people. Initially sold in a market in West London, where youth groups often gathered, who liked such clothes for their originality.

Jeans travel to the USSR

Jeans first came to the USSR thanks to the World Festival of Youth and Students, immediately winning love and demand among local residents as a symbol of a successful and free life.

Now it is easy and simple to buy jeans in almost any store, but at the same time it was a huge problem: they were banned and speculated with, only sailors and diplomats could get real branded jeans.

Modern jeans - "varenki"

Scuffs were considered a hallmark of branded jeans, but since such trousers were not available to everyone, Soviet-made jeans were boiled with whiteness, from which the well-known jeans-dumplings with white stains appeared.

Recognizable "denim labels"

Modern jeans

Now denim clothes and denim have ceased to be something out of reach and outlandish, but have become an everyday wardrobe item that everyone has in a closet. Flared and tapered, long and cropped, decorated with inscriptions and sequins - the choice of models is extremely huge, you can choose for any height and any type of figure.

Jeans and denim clothes fit well into almost any style of clothing, you just have to choose according to your own taste, for example, in this good online clothing store, in addition, in the next article, following the history of the appearance of the first jeans, we are for you.

These days it is very difficult to find a person who does not wear jeans. however, which we use so often in everyday life is unknown to almost anyone. In order to better understand what we are talking about and learn a little more about such familiar and convenient things, we decided to write this article. Many interesting facts that will be given below will tell you not only about how the first jeans appeared. The origin of the word, term, as well as its adaptation in Russian speech - this is what we are going to reveal.

Romanesque history

From the beginning of the 16th century, weaving was very developed in the Italian province of Genoa. Among the variety of materials that were made there, there was also a very coarse twill with a diagonal weave. The fabric was not in great demand among the aristocracy, therefore in those days it did not even have its own name. Over time, the French became interested in this material and, purchasing it in Genoa, they called it so - Gene. When the fabric was more or less adapted in France, the name was transformed into Janne. From there, it already migrated to the English language a little modified - Jean, which has remained to this day. Thus, it turns out that the history of the origin of the word "jeans" does not at all refer to American settlers, to cowboys from the wild west and horsemen. The word is purely European, which only later fell on the vastness of America.

Denim that hasn't changed at all

Surely each of us is well aware of the term "denim". In many both modern and ancient sources, it is used as a synonym for the word "jeans". The origin of the word is also quite a fascinating story. After they began to supply Italian fabric to France, fashion designers drew attention primarily to its unattractive color - light brown. Therefore, it was decided to paint the material in a blue tone, and all this was done in a town called Nîmes. This is how the term “denim” appeared, which now can mean both a certain color tone and an element of a man's or a woman's wardrobe.

Let's dig into antiquity

According to some sources, for the first time such fabric began to be used by people as early as 300 AD. NS. During this period, the history of the origin of the word "jeans" begins, since in the documentation the material is recorded under the names denim and gene. It is curious that a very extensive supply of such fabric was traced precisely from Genoa to Great Britain. The British, receiving this product, renamed it in their own way, and the word jean, known to us, was obtained. Later, in 1429, he set off with his expedition in search of a new route to India. The sails that crowned his ship were made from unpainted denim. However, it is officially believed that the origin and history of the word "jeans" go back to the 16th century. After Columbus discovered New Earth, his "sailcloth" became partly famous. It was from this fabric, which was then called either dzene or denim, that most Italian sailors began to wear pants. By the way, in their cut, they had a lot in common with modern jeans.

Looking for answers in painting

In the USSR, it was customary to believe that denim trousers are the work of American designers, in fact, like the material itself. In fact, if you look closely at some of the old canvases, you can find a funny thing. Some canvases depict people who are dressed in clothes made of this material or simply in ordinary jeans. The origin of the word just dates back to the same years as the work of unknown masters. In one of the paintings, you can see a woman standing in a navy blue skirt. You can tell by the type of fabric that it is denim. There is also a canvas showing a boy in a denim shirt with a white lining sticking out from under it. Many sailors and even vagabonds who lived in Europe in the 16th century were captured by artists in straight-cut denim trousers. It's funny that it was not possible to establish the identity of the artist (or artists) who owns these canvases. Therefore, conventionally in history, he was given the name "Master of Blue Jeans".

Spreading the term and the clothing itself

The origin of the word "jeans" in a more modern sense can really be attributed to America. During the period when the Wild West was being built, when the middle and southern parts of America were settled by farmers from Europe, it was for them that they began to sew overalls from jeans. Since the majority of the population spoke exactly English, the letter s was attributed to the name of the material that was supplied here for sewing work uniforms. This indicated, as it were, the plural of an uncountable noun - a fairly common occurrence in English (trousers, shorts). By the beginning of the 20th century, this “uncountable noun” had also spread to the vastness of the Russian Empire, although only the richest people knew about it and had the opportunity to purchase foreign goods. In our country, the word "jeans" was turned into according to our rules, during which the well-known "jeans" were obtained.

The official history of jeans

Due to the fact that for all cowboys and other workers who came to the States, it was necessary to massively sew a work uniform, it was decided to use the described fabric as the main material. Leiba Strauss (or Levi Strauss), the son of a certain Jew who had lived in America for a long time, was the first to acquire a patent for the manufacture of a new type of clothing. According to the official version, it was he who came up with the very design of jeans that was considered a classic for many years. At that time, such a development became a real sensation. The trousers had a total of four pockets. Two were located in the front, one in the back, and another one on the front of the pants - small, for watches. The working-class trousers that were sold in America were dyed indigo - deep blue. At that time, their price was $ 1 and 46 cents for one unit of goods.

The unofficial version of making jeans

All sources, describing the origin of jeans, for some reason confidently claim that this is the work of Levi Strauss. But if you delve into history more thoroughly, then very interesting facts emerge that indicate the opposite. In accordance with them, the design of the new work clothes was developed by Jacob Davis (by the way, a native of Russia). It was he who invented the pants that can be sewn from natural and durable fabric, and plus to this make a real designer discovery out of them. He designed pockets, a fly, and rivets. The laborer could not find money for a patent, so he borrowed it from Strauss. He appropriated the discovery for himself, and everyone forgot about Davis.