A Short History of Denim and Jeans
Trace denim from its roots in France and Italy through the 1873 rivet patent and Hollywood to modern stretch jeans and the sustainability debate.
Key takeaways
- Jeans began as tough workwear in the 19th century.
- The 1873 patent for copper rivets by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss is a defining moment.
- Film, music and youth culture turned workwear into a global fashion staple.
Few garments are as widely worn as blue jeans. They started as practical workwear and are now worn everywhere, from farms to fashion weeks. The story of denim is a story of fabric, labour, film and culture.
Where the names come from
The word denim is generally traced to serge de Nimes, a twill fabric associated with the French city of Nimes. The word jeans is commonly linked to Genoa in Italy, whose sailors wore sturdy cotton trousers. Over time the names were applied to the durable cotton twill and the trousers made from it.
1873: the rivet patent
In the 1870s, Jacob Davis, a tailor in Reno, Nevada, began adding copper rivets to the stress points of work trousers, such as the pocket corners, so they would not tear. He needed a partner to pay for a patent. He turned to his fabric supplier, Levi Strauss, a San Francisco dry goods merchant. Their patent for riveted pocket openings was granted on 20 May 1873, and the company soon began selling riveted waist overalls to miners, farmers and labourers. The famous 501 lot number was assigned in 1890.
Workwear to western wear
Other makers entered the market in the following decades. Levi’s introduced its first women’s jeans, called Lady Levi’s, in 1934, and Wrangler launched in 1947. Western films and the cowboy image helped carry jeans beyond the workplace, and American soldiers and servicemen wore them off duty during and after the Second World War.
The 1950s: a symbol of youth
Jeans became linked with youth rebellion in the 1950s, helped by films such as The Wild One in 1953 and Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. Some schools and venues restricted them as a result, which only increased their appeal to teenagers.
Counterculture and designer jeans
In the 1960s and 1970s jeans were customised with patches and embroidery and cut into flares and bell-bottoms. By the late 1970s designers such as Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt put their names on jeans, turning denim into a fashion product with a premium price.
Decades of change
| Decade | Defining denim look |
|---|---|
| 1980s | Stone-washed and acid-washed finishes, tapered legs |
| 1990s | Baggy and loose fits, heavy hip-hop and grunge influence |
| 2000s | Low-rise cuts and heavily distressed finishes |
| 2010s | Skinny jeans and widespread stretch denim |
| 2020s | Wider and higher-rise fits, vintage and recycled denim |
Denim and sustainability
Growing cotton and finishing denim use large amounts of water, and some traditional finishing methods rely on harsh chemicals. In response, many makers now use recycled cotton, laser finishing and lower-water dyeing, and more shoppers repair and resell jeans rather than replacing them.
