Jeans have become such an integral part of everyday life that most of us never stop to think about where our favorite jeans come from, how they are made, and their history.
Despite the wide variety of innovative materials available, denim remains one of the most versatile, durable, and popular fabrics on the market. Denim transcends gender, age and class – most people own more jeans than there are days in a week. Their appeal will always be timeless, but their design and fabric technology evolves with the times.
Now, new “sustainable” denim is emerging as manufacturers respond to consumer demand for eco-friendly fabrics and production processes.
Farmer in jeans in 1930
Farmers in jeans in the 1930s.
Although historians still debate the origin of denim, the fabric is classified as twill, using one colored thread and one white thread. It is widely believed that the fabric was created in Nimes, France.
Chance played a role. While trying to replicate a durable cotton fabric called “jeane” (named after the city of Genoa, Italy), the fabric weavers at nmes realized they had developed a unique, strong and durable fabric.
This fabric is woven in twill, with the weft yarns passing underneath the warp yarns. The weavers dyed the warp blue with indigo, but allowed the weft to turn white naturally. This process gives the fabric a distinctive blue color on one side and white on the other. They call it Serge de n<e:1> mes (which translates to “n<e:1> mes twill”).
Important information
Where does the name denim come from?
The word “denim” comes from a twill fabric called “Serge de n<e:1> mes”, which was originally woven in France in n<e:1> mes.
For Indigo
Synonymous with classic jeans, indigo is one of the oldest dyes used to dye textiles and is the source of the iconic blue color.
Indigo is formulated from organic dyes and has a distinctive blue hue; it was originally produced and exported from India (from which it takes its name) during the Greco-Roman period. Indigo is a natural dye extracted from the leaves of certain plants, a process that was economically important because blue dye was once scarce. Originally made from a plant called indigo, indigo became a highly prized commodity, leading to heavy taxation of Persian, Levantine and Greek exporters. As a result, this classic blue color became a rare luxury item in Europe.
It was not until the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1497 that indigo entered the markets of other colonies. Importers could now avoid high tariffs, and as a result, the use of indigo in European garment manufacturing increased significantly
In 1865, the German chemist Adolf von Bayer began researching the synthesis of natural indigo. He eventually succeeded in 1883, paving the way for the first large-scale industrial production of synthetic indigo in 1897. Synthetic indigo was much cheaper to produce and more reliable, as the color was longer lasting and more durable.
During the California Gold Rush of 1853, Levi Strauss moved to San Francisco to start the western branch of his family’s dry goods business. He was a German immigrant to the United States and moved to New York in 1851 to work with his brother.
Levi sold many products. One of them was sturdy imported cotton denim.
One of his customers was Jacob w. Davis, a tailor. Davis, from Reno, Nevada, purchased Levi’s denim for his business, where he made sturdy and durable items such as tents, horse blankets, and wagon covers. A gold mining company commissioned him to make pants strong enough to withstand hard work.
Davis used metal rivets to add strength and durability to the denim overalls; since Levi’s fabric was so important to them, he proposed a partnership. They became partners and received U.S. Patent 139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 20, 1873.The patented rivets were later incorporated into the company’s jeans designs and advertising. Production of denim overalls began in the 1870s, and the company created its first pair of jeans in the 1890s.
It was not until the 19th century that competitors in the denim market began to emerge: namely Wrangler (1905) and Lee (1911).
