Jeans Are Born When Humans Need Strong Trousers

Photo illustration (Ian deng / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Jeans are a timeless fashion trend. Timeless because its development has passed many centuries. Do you know the long history behind the jeans that have become the most popular fashion icons?

Created in the late 1800's, the United States (US) introduced jeans to the world during World War II. Despite their very long age, jeans really remain a booming business to this day.

Launching Vogue, Wednesday, July 8, jeans are pants made of denim or dungaree fabric. The concept of jeans was invented by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873. The name 'jeans' comes from the city of Genoa in Italy, where the cotton corduroy called jean or jeane, was produced.

Levi Strauss came from Germany to New York in 1851 to join his older brother who owned a goods shop. In 1853, Levi Strauss heard of a gold rush and moved to San Francisco to set up a branch of the family goods business.

There, he sold several items, one of which was cotton cloth. One of his customers is Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Reno, Nevada. Davis makes functional items such as tents, horse blankets, and carriage blankets.

Creating sturdy pants

One day, customer Jacob Daviss ordered trousers that are sturdy and can withstand active activities. He then made the denim pants he bought from Levi Strauss and made the pants even stronger by placing copper nails in the places where they were most prone to tearing.

When he wanted to patent denim pants, he told Levi Strauss and they became partners. They opened a bigger factory. That's how jeans were born.

After several decades, the design of jeans has grown. Strauss added a double curve of orange stitching for a stronger pair of jeans. In addition, the composition was done as a way of identifying jeans as the Levi's brand.

Then, the design of jeans began to add other accessories, such as belts that appeared in 1922. Zippers were used to add style and efficiency to use in 1954. However, when the Strauss and Davis patents expired in 1890, other manufacturers were free to reproduce the style.

OshKosh B'Gosh entered the jeans market in 1895. After that, Blue Bell - the forerunner of the Wrangler - in 1904, and Lee Mercantile in 1911. However, over time, the use of jeans is no longer just a fashion. Jeans symbolize a situation.

In the 1950s, jeans were associated with rebellious and anti-establishment youth. Marlon Brando and James Dean popularized the image of teen idols dressed in denim with great sex appeal. Rock 'n roll stars make jeans a cool style. Then, hippies and antiwar protesters wore jeans in the 1960s.

Then, in the early 1970s, the wearing of jeans was a way of showing support for the working class. Meanwhile, feminists have blue jeans as a way to show gender equality.