How Leib Strauss and Jacob Yufes created the world famous Levi Strauss jeans company

February 26 marks the 195th anniversary of the birth of Leib Strauss, the founder of the world famous jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss. With the help of tailor Jacob Yufes, the new product gained enormous popularity, first among American workers, then among the middle class. Eventually, jeans were recognized throughout the world and by all levels of society – from rebels and revolutionaries to presidents and billionaires.

Freedom instead of kings and empires

Leib Strauss was born on February 26, 1829 into the Jewish family of Hirsch and Rebecca Strauss (nee Haas) in the town of Buttenheim, which was then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Leib was the youngest child in a family where, in addition to him, there were six more children – three boys and three girls. Leib’s two older brothers soon left for the United States and opened a haberdashery store in New York. In 1846, Hirsch Strauss died of tuberculosis, and the family fell on hard times.

Two years later, Leib Strauss left for America along with his two sisters. They began working in their brothers’ family store called J. Strauss Brother & Co. It was there that young Levi Straus—that’s how young Leib Americanized his name—received his first lessons in business, valuing and purchasing goods, fabrics, accessories and everything else that the Straus brothers’ haberdashery store sold.

In 1849, the California Gold Rush began. Prospectors and adventurers flocked from all over the country to the Pacific coast – popular rumor dubbed them “49ers” (49 people). In an attempt to expand the family business to California, Levi Ostrich also went in 1853.

San Francisco’s current American football team is the San Francisco 49ers, and its home stadium is Levi’s Stadium.

At first, Levi sold haberdashery goods in a division of a family company. However, he soon gave the store its own name – Levi Strauss & Co. The store sold miners tents, tools, clothes, hats, handkerchiefs, shoes, etc. One of the most popular goods among gold miners was trousers – they wore out very quickly, so the miners asked to find stronger trousers for them.

Levi began purchasing and then making canvas pants. They were stronger than usual, but rather bulky. Then Levi came up with the idea of ​​​​making work trousers from denim – a thick, rough fabric with a diagonal weave – twill. The name of the fabric comes from the French city of Nimes (serge de Nimes – twill from Nimes), where it has been produced since the 17th century.

According to one version, the word jeans comes from the French name for the Italian city of Genoa (Genes), from where blue indigo-based fabric dye came to Nîmes. Denim was brought to the United States in the 17th century by English merchants. It is known that back in 1789, one of the founding fathers of the United States, George Washington, visited a denim factory in Massachusetts and appreciated the quality of overseas fabric.

Levi Ostrich began producing loose denim pants with a pocket at the back for rock samples that prospectors carried with them. To make the dirt on his pants less visible, he began to dye them blue – indigo dye was the cheapest in the USA at that time.

The miners liked the new overalls, but they complained that stones, wet gold sand and heavy tools quickly tore the patch pockets. The entrepreneur began to look for a way to strengthen his product. And I found it. With the help of one of their contractors.

Jacob Yufes was born and raised in Riga, which was then part of the Russian Empire. In 1854 he went to North America, becoming Jacob Davis. He got married and for some time worked and lived in the USA and Canada, until he settled in Nevada. There, in the city of Reno, Davis opened his own workshop, where he sewed not only clothes, but also saddlery products – harnesses, blankets, saddles, etc.

It was Davis who came up with the idea of ​​strengthening clothes with harness rivets and even wanted to get a patent for this invention. However, he had no experience in such matters. And a simple tailor and saddler did not have enough extra money to obtain a patent.

In 1872, he invited one of his customers, Levi Ostrich, to introduce the invention into the production of work trousers and join the common cause. Or just lend him money to get a patent.

Jeans for peasants, jeans for workers

Levi Ostrich took ownership of a tailor from Nevada and introduced his innovation into production. On May 20, 1873, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss & Company received patent No. 139121 on trousers with metal rivets on the corners of the pockets. Now this year is indicated on every pair of Levi’s jeans.

Workers liked the sturdy pants with riveted pockets, and Levi’s sales began to grow. Every year, Straus recruited more and more people into his workshops. He perfectly understood the target audience of his product. Gold miners, miners, and laborers were often illiterate or could not read at all. It was necessary to attract the attention of the common people of the country in a simple and striking way – this is how the image of two horses trying to tear a pair of Levi’s jeans appeared.

In 1886, the “Two Horses” trademark was registered. The bright and simple image attracted the attention of a new audience – farmers and shepherds. This is how Levi’s jeans became an integral attribute of cowboy culture. In 1890, the first numbered series of Levi’s jeans appeared – 501, which still exists today.

As for Levi himself, he became an influential man not only in San Francisco, but throughout the entire west coast of the United States and even abroad. In 1875, he became a member of the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills weaving and spinning company, and in 1877 he became a member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. He also served as a director of Nevada Bank, Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance, and the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company.

Already a successful businessman, Levi Ostrich did not forget about the times when he lacked funds. He often and willingly donated to many charitable and educational projects. Thousands of dollars—which was quite a lot at the time—were donated to the Eureka Charitable Society, the Pacific Orphanage for Jewish Children, the Council for Jewish Families, and other charities. In 1897, Levi Straus sponsored scholarships in 28 academic disciplines at the University of Berkeley (California). These scholarships in his name still exist today.

In 1902, Levi Ostrich died at the age of 73, leaving no direct heirs. His fortune was estimated at $6 million. Part of the inheritance went to charity, part, like the rights to the company, were bequeathed to Levi Ostrich’s nephews on his mother’s side. Since then, the Haas family and its heirs have taken over the company, still being its main owners.

Davis outlived his partner. He continued to work for the company until the end of his life. He died in 1908 at the age of 77.

Memory for centuries and business worth billions

Ostrich’s heirs managed to turn a purely American brand not only into a global brand, but also into an organic part of the lifestyle of millions of people and entire subcultures. Levi’s became the founder of the global market of jeans and denim clothing. Back in the 19th century, brands such as Lee and Carhartt (both founded in 1889) appeared in the USA, and in the mid-20th – Wrangler (1947) and Calvin Klein (1968). Then new “denim” brands began to appear all over the world.

Levi’s was one of the first companies to mass produce clothing specifically for women. In 1934 the line was introduced Lady Levi’s.

The company noticed that many American women bought men’s 501s and altered them to fit a woman’s figure. Thus, a women’s model based on the 501 was born – Levi’s 701.

It was originally positioned as a “ranch work” model. A special advertising campaign was launched featuring women in cowboy clothing. However, the company then turned to a wider female audience, and jeans became a sign of modern emancipated American women.

In the 1930s, Levi’s jeans became so popular that they began to be counterfeited en masse. The company made a small red tag sewn into the right back pocket of the jeans as protection against counterfeiting. Subsequently, the company began to use such tags in other colors (orange, gray) and for other types of denim clothing (jackets, shirts, etc.).

In 1965, Levi’s opened its first foreign office, choosing Japan for it. Since then, the company has continuously expanded its international presence. Now it is officially represented in 110 countries, its products are sold in more than 45 thousand authorized stores around the world. Levi’s European headquarters are located in Brussels, while the Asian headquarters are in Singapore. The company’s annual turnover exceeds $6 billion, and its market capitalization is $7 billion.

In the second half of the 20th century, Levi’s ceased to be associated exclusively with work clothes. They became a symbol of freedom and democratic style, rock and roll and adherence to tradition. Among the famous “wearers” of Levi’s jeans are Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury, Princess Diana, Pamela Anderson and many other stars. Levi’s jeans became popular among bikers in the 1950s, hippies in the 1960s, and punk in the 1970s.

But it wasn’t just the rebels who showed a love for the former gold miners’ overalls. At least six US presidents – Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. and George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – were seen wearing Levi Strauss & Co. And billionaire Steve Jobs’s constant 501s, coupled with a black turtleneck and old-school New Balance sneakers, became his unofficial uniform at presentations of new Apple products.

Evgeny Khvostik